---
title: [Music] 2-5-1 Tritone Subsitution
id: 969
html_url: "https://acmcsuf.com/blog/969"
discussion_url: "https://github.com/EthanThatOneKid/acmcsuf.com/discussions/969"
author: "EvanCPSC (https://github.com/EvanCPSC)"
labels: []
created: "2023-11-17T02:00:46.000Z"
---

[Music] 2-5-1 Tritone Subsitution
=================================

HEY MUSIC NERDS OF ACM


THIS IS A QUICK BLOG ABOUT THE FAMOUS 2-5-1 JAZZ PROGRESSION AND HOW TO SPICE IT UP EVEN MORE.


THE 2-5-1 ITSELF

the 2-5-1 progression is actually spelled ii-V-I, uppercase Roman numerals meaning a Major chord,
and lowercase Roman numerals meaning a Minor chord. This progression is very popular in jazz, the
most prominent example, in my opinion, being Autumn Leaves by Nat King Cole
[https://youtu.be/YVedK1VUfLM?si=PfbJZ_GVxNJJwkVz], where it is used multiple times in a row.

The V chord (usually a dominant chord, adding the flat 7th to the chord) acts as a "perfect cadence"
to get to the I chord (the "tonic" or home chord). It sounds really nice, trust me.


WHAT'S A TRITONE?

The "tritone" of a note means 6 semitones away from the note (halfway to the octave), the most
dissonant and uncomfortable interval (pairing a note with another). Let's say we have the note G.
Six semitones away from G is (Ab, A, Bb, B, C) Db. Therefore, the tritone of G is Db.


TRITONE SUBSITION IN A II-V-I

Finally, the spice. Let's think of the C Major scale and its chords (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°).
The 5th chord of C Major is G7 (Dominant). Now we take that 5 and switch it out for G's tritone, the
5th's tritone, not the tonic. The chord name is still the same, so now we have Db7.

This makes our progression Dm ( ii ) - Db7 ( bII ) - C ( I ). Wow! It's just a walk down the
chromatic scale! And it sounds great too. Now that you now it's just a chromatic walk down, it's so
much easier to remember the progression, so you don't have to do the whole process again.


SO YEAH

This concept is better explained in only 5 minutes by Music With Myles
[https://youtu.be/aLdqLjA0NHE?si=NSU5bUfEtc5s8PRs]. This was my first exposure to the concept, and
it's really effective when using Modal Interchange (tell me if I should talk about that).


HAVE A GOOD DAY YALL -EVAN J 🥪