Message 5/8
Date: 22-May-04 @ 01:36 AM Edit: 22-May-04 | 09:11 AM -
RE: Chord identification...
The tritone interval is known as a sharp 4th, augmented 4th,flat 5th etc it is exactly halfway between the octave.I usually think of it as a flat 5th ,the 3rd and 7th of a chord form an interval of a tritone.The tritone has an unusual property in that it can resolve inwards and outwards try it with a C 7 chord the 3rd is E and the 7th is B flat if you drop the E to E flat and raise the B flat to B then you create resolution in an outwards fashion but try raising the note E to F and lowering the B flat to A you create a resolution inwards,this property opens up a whole field of interesting musical effects and is the basis of tritone substitution.
The thing is the tritone is shared between two chords the 3rd and 7th of one chord is the same as the 7th and 3rd of a chord whose root is a tritone away from the other for example the E and B flat are the 3rd and 7th of a C7 chord but B flat is also the 3rd of a G flat 7(or F # 7 )chord and E is the 7th of the G flat 7 chord.
So in the case of a 1,4,5 progression in C to add more interest you can substitute the 5th chord which would be G in this case with a chord whose root is a tritone away which would be D flat Major in this case because D flat is a tritone away from G this can also be extended to other chords in a progression like say a 2,5,1 you could substitute the 2 chord for one that is a tritone away so a 12 bar 2,5,1 progression in C (4 bars of Dminor,4 of G7,and 4 of C)could be varied by doing D minor for 2 bars and then (tritone substitution) 2 bars of A flat minor then onto the 5 chord G then (tritone substitution) D flat 7,D flat 6, (back to) G (orG,G,Dflat,Dflat for a different variation) then onto the 1 chord C,Cmajor7,C7,C6 (or C,C,C,C) you can finger these chords in such a way that they all smoothly resolve into the next one.
Can you see what I'm getting at? It opens up a lot of possibilities to expand on chord progressions that might other wise become stale.It's a great variation technique to have at your disposal and an nice way to move between different keys.It's very easy to fall into the trap of using it all the time though so I think it's good to think of it as a spice you know like fresh ground black pepper tastes good with a sprinkle on your food but you don't want to make a meal of it.