what exactly is a tritone/triad??

[dwest2419]

Hi guys back with another thread. what exactly is a tritone/triad?? I was watching video that I came across. I couldnt figure out how he was making all these chords fit with an F maj9. I mean there were nice grooves in the music as well. Im sure t block and gtrdave can further expound on this.

Triads Over Tritones - Phat Chords

[gtrdave]

In basic terms, a tritone is an interval of three whole tones - F to B is the tritone of C maj scale.

A triad is the root, third and fifth notes of a scale which compose a chord - C, E and G is the triad of C maj.

[T-Block]

Just to add on to dave's post, the way the video guy is using tri-tones is by taking the note you would normally play as the root, and substituting it with a tri-tone based solely off that root note.

The tri-tone substitute for any note will be the 3rd and b7. So, for the note C, we use the C major scale to find the 3rd and b7 notes. They are E and Bb respectively. When you make the substitution, any place that you would play a C in the bass/LH, you would play an E-Bb (or Bb-E) instead.  The other chord is the F chord. The tri-tone sub for F would be the notes A and Eb.

This technique works great if you have a bass player who can play the actual root note, this way you won't be clashing with your sounds. And if you listen to the video, you will hear the pre-recorded bass notes being played.


Bonus: if you look at the tri-tone sub carefully, you will discover that it's a play off the dom7 chord. Example:

C7 chord = C-E-G-Bb

tri-tone sub for the note C = E-Bb.

So, you can actually figure out all the tri-tone subs by knowing all the dom7 chords.

C7 chord = C-E-G-Bb
C tri-tone = E-Bb

[dwest2419]

Just to add on to dave's post, the way the video guy is using tri-tones is by taking the note you would normally play as the root, and substituting it with a tri-tone based solely off that root note.

The tri-tone substitute for any note will be the 3rd and b7. So, for the note C, we use the C major scale to find the 3rd and b7 notes. They are E and Bb respectively. When you make the substitution, any place that you would play a C in the bass/LH, you would play an E-Bb (or Bb-E) instead.  The other chord is the F chord. The tri-tone sub for F would be the notes A and Eb.

This technique works great if you have a bass player who can play the actual root note, this way you won't be clashing with your sounds. And if you listen to the video, you will hear the pre-recorded bass notes being played.


Bonus: if you look at the tri-tone sub carefully, you will discover that it's a play off the dom7 chord. Example:

C7 chord = C-E-G-Bb

tri-tone sub for the note C = E-Bb.

So, you can actually figure out all the tri-tone subs by knowing all the dom7 chords.

C7 chord = C-E-G-Bb
C tri-tone = E-Bb

Thanks! I wish they had a some sort of book on this subject. For it is interesting I might add.

[gtrdave]

Thanks! I wish they had a some sort of book on this subject. For it is interesting I might add.

The Guitar Handbook by Ralph Denyer, published by Knopf.
I've had a copy a this book since I was about 15 years old and I still use it to teach my students 31 years later.
I think it originally cost me less than $20 and it has been an invaluable resource for all-things-guitar: theory, history, players, construction, repair, recording, technique, brands/models, etc...

[Sillyie]

may I add that it is easy to remember the tritones because they repeat. There are only 6.

C and Gb uses E and Bb
(the E is the 3rd of C and the b7 of Gb), (the Bb is the 3rd of Gb and the b7 of C)

Db and G uses F and B 
(the F is the 3rd of Db and the b7 of G), (the B is the 3rd of G and the b7 of Db)

D and Ab uses F# (Gb) and C
( the F# (Gb) is the 3rd of D and the b7 of Ab). the C is the 3rd of Ab and the b7 of D)

Eb and A uses G and C# (Db)
( the G is the 3rd of Eb and the b7 of A) ( the C#(Db) is the 3rd of A and the b7 if Eb)

E and Bb uses Ab(G#)  and D
(the D is the 3rd if Bb and the b7 of E) (the Ab(G#) is the 3rd of E and the b7 of Bb)

F and B uses A and Eb (D#)
( the A  is the 3rd if F and the b7 of B) ( the Eb(D#) is the 3rd if B and the b7 of F)

If it has not been said these tritones may also take the place of dominant chords sense the only difference is that you are not using the 5 in the tritone.

Hope this helps and most of all makes so sense to someone, I am still learning

[T-Block]

If it has not been said these tritones may also take the place of dominant chords sense the only difference is that you are not using the 5 in the tritone.

That's only if you got the root being played somewhere else in the chord or by another instrument.