SubstitutionsandTurnarounds

FromFundamentalsofJazzImprovisation:WhatEverybodyThinksYouAlreadyKnow

Dr.MarkWatkins

DirectorofJazzStudiesBrighamYoungUniversity–Idaho

©2010byMarkWatkinsMaterialshereinareprovidedforpersonaluse.Nopartmaybereproduced

withoutwrittenpermissionfromtheauthor.

Substitutions

TheTritoneSubstitutionAtritoneisanintervalofthreetonesorwholesteps.Atoneistwosemi­tones,twoadjacentkeysonthepianoupformthestartingpitch.Awholestepistwohalf­steps.Threewholestepsequalssixhalf­steps.(Seethesectiononintervalsabove.)FromFuptoBisatritone;fromBuptoFisatritone.Atritoneisexactlyhalfanoctave.Itisasharp‐4oraflat‐5.

TritoneWheelThecrossshowsnotesa

tritoneaway.

CompassTurntheouterwheellikethe

degreesonacompass.

ClockTurnthecrosslikethearmsof

aclock.

Wheneveradominantchordisusedinaprogressionasanactivechordleadingsomewhere,achordatritoneawayfromthatdominantchordcanbesubstituted.Forexample,aiiV7IinB‐flatisCminor,F7,B‐flatmajor.AtritoneawayfromFisB.TheprogressionbecomesCminor,B7,B‐flat.Thisworkswellbecausetheprimaryfunctionalnotesofthedominantchordarestillpresent:major3rdofthedominantchord(leadingtonetoI),andminor7(whichcanbeconsideredasecondarydownwardleadingtoneduetoitsstrongtendencytoresolvetothe3rdofI).

Perhapsaneasierwaytoincorporatetritonesubstitutionsistothinkofthemasa½‐stepabovethechordofresolution.InaV7IsequencesuchasFtoB‐flat,insteadofthinkingthetritoneawayfromFtofindB,think½‐stepaboveB‐flattofindB.Seethe“TritoneConcepts”headingintheChordProgressionssectionforexamples.

CotraneChangesJohnColtranedevelopedthisprogressionasanadaptationtotheMilesDavistuneTuneUp.ColtraneexploredtheformulaincompositionssuchasGiantStepsandCountdown.TheycanbeappliedinmostcircumstanceswheretherearefourbarsofamajorchordoronafourbariiV7I,especiallyduringimprovisedsolos.Theprogressionalsoworkswellasaturnaround.Simplecomplexityisagooddescriptor.Startingontonic,oneproceedsupaminor3rdthendownaperfect5th,upam3,downP5untilreturningtoI.Onecanstartonthesupertonicinsteadoftonic,asinaiiV7I,firstmovingupaminorsecond(forexample,DminortoE‐flat7).Thechordsgenerallychangeonbeatsoneandthreewiththreebeingdominantinqualityandonebeingmajor.

Intheaboveexample,noticethatthepairsofV7Imovebymajor3rds,therootsformingandaugmentedtriad.InCmajorthefirstchordisCfollowedbythepairE‐flat7toA‐flat,aV7IinA‐flat.ThenextpairisB7toEmajor,V7IinE.ThelastpairbringsthesequencebacktoIwithG7toCmajor,V7IinC.ThepairsequenceisCA‐flatEC,anaugmentedtriad.

BluesFundamentalHarmonicStructure

QuickChange:Measure2ofthebluesoftenincludesthesubdominant.

Subdominant,mm.5‐6:ivVII7IleadingbacktoI.

Subdominant,mm.5‐6:Bassup½‐stepchangingharmonytodiminished.

Dominant,mm.9‐10:Fouroptionsincludedincomposition(notsubstitutions).Option1:Dominantfortwobars.

Option2:iiV7(perhapsmostcommon)

Option3:“Takeitfromthefive.”VdowntoIVtoI

Option4:V/VtoV(iimadedominant)

Otherpossibilitiesforlastfourbars:IVflat‐VII7I(ivflat‐VII7I)

II7(orV/V)|TritoneSubstitution|I(I7orminor)

Minorbluesmayhaveminorchordsinthedominantmeasures.

Lead‐inConceptInmanysituationsaniiV7canbeinsertedtoleadintoastructuralpointofatune.Itmaybean

importantchord,delineatingasectionofmelody,definingfouroreightmeasuregroup,orfulfillotherharmonicneeds.

Intheblues,aiiV7canbeplacedinm.4leadingtothesubdominant.

AiiV7inm.8ofthebluescanleadtothedominant(orotherchordinm.9).

ExtendedLead‐inWhereharmonicspaceallows,theLead­incanbeextendedbymeansofacycleofV7s,acycleofiiV7s,descendingorascendingiiV7s,tritonesubstitutions,orotherprogressions.Blues,mm.1‐5:cyclelead‐intoIV.ThissequenceisdemonstratedinbluesforAlice(CharlieParker).Thetonicchordhasamajor7thinsteadofthetraditionalminor5thfoundinabluestonic.This,plusthehalf‐diminishedqualityofthefirstchordinm.2helptostartthecyclemoresmoothly.Themajor7thofIisthesameastherootofthefirstchordinm.2.Thehalf‐diminishedchord’sflat‐5isinthekeysignatureandisrootofthequickchangechordoftenplayedinm.2.

iiiforIThemediantisasubstitutefortonic.InCthechordtonesareCEGB.ThemediantinthekeyofCisE.UsingtheCmajorkeysignaturethechordtonesforEareEGBD.Pitchesarethesimilarandcanbemademoresodependingontheextensionsused.

InRhythmChangesIviiiV7canbecomeiiiviiiV7.ThisisoftenconvertedtoacycleofiiV7sbychangingthequalityofvitoVI7.

IntheBluesiiiissometimessubstitutedforIinmm.7‐8.ThiscanleadtoacycleofiiV7s.Thecyclecanbeextendedwhenivflat‐VII7issubstitutedinmeasure6andthetritonesubstitutionisusedforthelead­intothedominantinm.9.Blues,mm.5‐8:iiisubstitutedforIinm.7

Blues,mm.5‐9:TritoneSubstitutioninm.8forLead­intom.9

Blues,mm.5‐8:ivflat‐VII7I,mm.6‐7

Blues,mm.5‐9:CombinedelementstocreateDescendingChromaticiiV7Progression

ThemediantisoftensubstitutedforIinmeasure11whenaiiiviiiV7oriiiVI7iiV7turnaroundininserted.Amajormediantisusedwhentheturnaroundisacycleofdominants:III7VI7II7v7.

iiV7forV7andV7foriiV7Inmostsituations,whenthereisadominantchordaiiV7canbesubstituted.Likewise,whenaiiV7ispresentaV7canbeused.iiV7forV7

V7foriiV7

TheTurnaround

TurnaroundtoTopofFormTheprimarydefinitionofaturnaroundisachordsequencethatfacilitatestherepetitionoftheform.Ithelpstobringthemusicfromtheendofachorus(onetimethroughthechordprogressionofthetune)backtothebeginningofthenextchorus.Aturnaroundtakesonefromthebottomtothetopofthetune.Example:Turnaroundappliedtoblueschanges.

SectionDelineationTurnaroundprogressionscandelineateasectionoftheformofatuneasinthelead­inconceptabove(Bluessection).ThisisfrequentattheendofthefirstA“turningaround”tothesecondAsection.Itisfrequentasameanstobringthelistenerintothebridge(contrastingsection)ofthetune.

VampsandCircularProgressionsAnotherdefinitionanduseofaturnaroundisanyprogressionthatcirclesbackuponitsstartingpoint;aprogressionthatturnsuponitself.Thiscanhappenatthebeginning,middle,orendofaphrase.Turnaroundprogressionscanvamp(toplaythesamematerialrepeatedly).IviiiV7oriiiviiiV7vamp

ColtraneChanges

ivbVII7I

CatalogofTurnaroundsBasedonCircleof5thsCycle:

BasedonTritoneSubstitutions:

BasedonivbVII7I

ColtraneChanges