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Tritone substitution progressions

The tritone substitution is a relatively common feature in especially jazz. How this feature is used and why is explained by various analyzed examples.

Tritone is the name of the interval made up of three whole steps. For example, C to G# (Ab) or G to C# (Db).

Substitution means that a chord is substituted (replaced) for another that normally isn't involved. For example, G7 is often followed by C7, but by using a tritone substitution, C7 would instead be C#7 in this case. This change can also be written as I7 - #V7.

Some examples of a progression including tritone substitutions:

C7 - G#7 (G#7 is the tritone substitution chord)
D7 - A#7 (A#7 is the tritone substitution chord)
E7 - C7 (C7 is the tritone substitution chord)
G7 - C#7 (C#7 is the tritone substitution chord)

In a song, the tritone substitution may consist of a half bar and it could look like this:

C#7 can be seen as the tension-building chord that is resolved by C7 before turning home to the I chord.

Or as a part of a turnaround:

Here, C#7 replaces the more expected D7.

The tritone substitution can also be used in a progression with a chromatic motion:

Dm7 – C#7 – Cmaj7 (iim7 – #I7 – Imaj7)

C#7 is the tritone substitution chord in this case (and replaces the more expected G7).

ii - I# - I with tritone substitutions in all keys

The V chord is substituted for another V chord, but at another scale degree. The table shows ii - I# - I progressions in all keys:

Only seventh chords are mentioned in the table and in other examples, but it is possible to use 9th and 13th chords instead as well as altered chords. See examples with chord diagrams (PDF).

See also ii - V - I progressions

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