I'm a church musician and play sometimes at different churches - sometimes i use tritones and i know a lot of people have asked me how do you use tritones in a song?
Well, for me it was trial, error and some chords i ripped from someone.
One way in which you can use the tritone is for the 1 chord - if you want to end minor/ jazz it up, you can add in a tritone.
Take the key of C.
If you were ending a tune on a 5-1 progression, you could go:
GDF/ACEG
CEbA/DGB
or if you want it rootless, the tritone can be alone in the left hand:
EbA/DGb
Another way in which you can use the tritone is as a passing chord or a filler before you hit the 1. For example, a 2-5-1 progression:
DFA/CEG
GDF/ACE
/G,A, (hit these notes quickly)
(B for the bass player) EbA/DGB
CE/ADG
A popular way to use the tritone is in the 7-3-6. I praised God for this because I only found this out a couple of weeks ago.
For example, in C:
1:CE/ADG
7:(B for the bass player) AEb/ADF
3:(E for the bass player) AbD/GCE
6:(A for the bass player) AE/GABD
A lot of people will play the 7-3-6 like this
7:BEb/ADF
3:E/AbCDG
6:A/GBCE
All we have done is rearrange the notes of the 7 by putting the A and Eb in the left hand to form a tritone and played a D minor triad in second inversion over the top of that. Then in the 3, we have taken the Ab and D from the right hand and put the tritone in the left hand. The rest of the notes (G C and E) have formed a C major triad, again in the 2nd inversion.
Another way to do the 7-3-6 with a tritone is this:
In the key of Ab:
7: (G for the bass player) - FB/EADb OR FB/FBbDb (still a tritone in the left hand)
3: (C for the bass player) - EBb/EbAbC
6: (F for the bass player) - EbGAbC/EbFGBb
As you will notice, all the tritones i have shown you are in the left hand and are nearly always rootless. The common style is to play in the middle of the piano and let the bass player handle the bass. I hope that this helps, and trust me, tritones can make you sound very professional even if you're not. I turned 16 about 5 months ago, and the use of the tritone has made me sound more advanced and professional in my playing, even though I'm not good at improvising in the right hand or power left hand chords and doing runs. This can add spice to your church service/band playing/whatever but it's also good not to use them all the time. It's best to start a tune simple, and then build - DO NOT overuse the tritone - this can make you sound like a one-trick pony - make sure it is used in moderation. Hopefully, I haven't rambled on too much and I hope this will enhance your playing.
God bless
Akil
