SUBSTITUTIONS

Experienced arrangers generally do not repeat the same chord progression from chorus to chorus. Subtle changes can make a substantial difference in the writing quality.

Both of the examples below were taken from the bridge of There Is No Greater Love arranged by Matt Harris. See the Real Book version of this tune and compare to what is displayed below.

In jazz writing there are several common types of substitutions:

• Substituting a chord a third away (mediant relationships): Emi 7 or A mi 7 substitutes for C Maj 7 - not illustrated below.
• Replacing a ii-V7 progression with just the V7 chord. In the first bar below, D7 replaces Ami 7 (b5) - D7.
• Tri-tone substitution - marked below with asterisks: instead of approaching a chord from its dominant, the chord is approached from above by a half-step. This new chord will be a tri-tone away from the dominant chord. Example:
  • V7 of C is G7
  • the substitute for G7 will be a tri-tone away - Db7
  • Db7 is a half-step above C