most people in the know know that tri-tones are a major ingredient in making music sound either soulful, jazzy, or just plain tense. Certain genres absolutely depend on tri-tones for their sound.
Here are a few pointers:
Tip #0: this isn't a tip. just a reminder of what a tri-tone is. It is
a distance of 6 semi-tone,
or in other words, 3 whole tones,
or yet in other words, the distance of exactly half the octave away from the original note
or again, a flattened fifth
or a sharpened fourth
I hope that is enough ways to express what a tri-to is for you. If you have C, then C and Gb together form a tri-tone. get it?
Tip #1: Use tri-tones in your bass instead of the I and V (a powerchord) to create tension.
Lets say you are moving from C to G (a fifth). The classic "passing chord" between them is Gdim7. Which is
G - Bb - Db E
If you look closely, you'll see that this dim7 chord (yay, all dim7 chords) is really just two tri-tones overlaid each other. Do you see
G - Db
and
Bb - E
Hiding with this Gdim7 chord?
Well, instead of using the entire dim7 chord as a passing chord, break up the dim7 into the two tri-tones to create a bluesy riff. Play
C - G C major power chord
Bb - E Bb tritone
G - Db G tritone
G - D G major power chord
Tip #2: Soriano's Extended Chord Tri-tone Theory
This is the best way, thus far that I can articulate this theory: The highest note in an extended chod determines the chord's underlying tritone.
Behold this "table"
Chord Notes Underlying Tritone Reasoning?
C7 (C-E-G-Bb) E - Bb Bb is the highest "extention"
well, then...by this rationale, let us extend the same thinking to other extended chords:
C6 (C-E-G-A) A - Eb
Cmaj7 (C-E-G-B) B - F
C9 (C-E-G-D) D - Ab
C#9 (C-E-G-Eb) Eb - A
C11 (C-E-G-F) F - B
C#11 (C-E-G-Gb) Gb - C
how about this?
C (C-E-G) C - Gb
Why on earth would someone put a C - Gb tritone under a C chord? There are two possible replies to this: a) To create tension in an otherwise overly stable major chord. or b) we wouldn't do this. Which lends credence to the theory that, though we may not always articulate it, we are are almost always (albeit subconsciously) playing some extended chord. We play a C chord, but in reality we are playing a C7 because we are jamming away at the E-Bb tritone in the bass. Hmmm...
Tip #3: What if we took the above observation and extended the theory yet further? This will require a bit of mathemetical and systematic thinking:
if a I7 chord makes for a transition between a I and IV
ex: C ....C7....F
and the underlying tri-tone at work is the III tritone
ex: E - Bb
then it stands to reason that the tri-tone is a "facillitator" for moving between a I and a bII, because the IV is the bII of the III
ex: if E is the I, then F is the bII
Furthermore, it stands to reason that any extended chord can be used as a transition chord if we are mindful of the underlying tri-tone, and apply it conscienciously.
For example:
How might we use the CM7 as a transitional chord? We can answer that by asking another question: what is the underlying tri-tone of CM7? Answer: F - B. Now, we have just established that the tri-tone can help us transition to the bII of the tri-tone, then it stands to reason that can do the following:
F - B ---> Gb major
Because Gb is the bII of F
Thus, we can compile the following progression:
Left Hand / Right Hand
C G / G - C - E C major
F B / G - B - C - E C major 7th
Gb / Gb - Bb - Db Gb major
G / G - Bb - Db ?
G - G - B - D G major*** these last two chords are thrown in bring closure
Get it?
Tip #4: Decorating a Bass (Left hand) Tri-tone with a Treble (right hand) major chord
I didn't invent this tip, i picked it up off a video someone created once. The basic idea is when you have a tri-tone in the left hand, this can be embellished and beautified by constructing a major chord "around" it in the left hand.
Let's say you were moving from F to Dm
F / F - A - C F maj
D / D - F - A D min
but lets say you through an aug chord in between for beauty, like this
F / C - F - A F maj
Db / Db - F - A F aug
D / D - F - A D min
This can be further beautified by creating a tritone in the left hand as an extra step:
F / C - F - A F maj
Db / Db - F - A F aug
Db - G / ? ? ? Db - G tritone
D / D - F - A D min
what could we put in that right hand alongside the Db-G tritone to make it sound pretty? We could go down one semi-tone from the Db, to C, and construct a C major chord:
F / C - F - A F maj
Db / Db - F - A F aug
Db - G / C - E - G Db - G tritone
D / D - F - A D min
very pretty and soulful.
Let's say we wanted to make on more change to G.
F / C - F - A F maj
Db / Db - F - A F aug
Db - G / C - E - G Db - G tritone
D / D - F - A D min
G / D - G - B G maj
what could be put between the Dmin and Gmaj? Let's say you wanted to place a C-Gb tritone there, like this:
F / C - F - A F maj
Db / Db - F - A F aug
Db - G / C - E - G Db - G tritone
D / D - F - A D min
C - Gb / ? ? ?
G / D - G - B G maj
what could we put in the right hand to beautify this? How about drop one semi-tone from Gb, down to F, and form an F major chord:
F / C - F - A F maj
Db / Db - F - A F aug
Db - G / C - E - G Db - G tritone
D / D - F - A D min
C - Gb / F - A - C (what would you call this chord?)
G / D - G - B G maj
also very pretty.
well, those were some thought on tri-tones. I was matching Tyler Perry's "Why did I get married" at the in-laws last night, and got inspired to make some notes on this. I drew up a table expressing some of the relationships (but tables tend to bore some people). I want to articulate this much better than I have, but I thought I'd give it to you raw, and see if its starts a discussion first....
