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One of the things I think is cool is that a standard chord sequence in Jazz is the ii7-V7-IM7 (e.g., Dm7-G7-CM7) which, if you do the tritone substitution turns into ii7-II♭7-IM7 so you get this nice little chromatic descending sequence happening in the bassline.

It’s also worth noting that when comping, the most important notes to be sure to hit are the 3rd (which expresses whether we’re major or minor) and the 7th (which gives the flavor of the chord), since the root is likely covered by the bass player and the fifth is implied by the 3rd (if you’re at a piano, try you can see this by, e.g., playing C-E-G-B in the right hand and C in the left, and comparing that to E-B in the right hand and C in the left. A jazz pianist soloing will likely do their melody line in the right hand and hit 3-7 with the left), so the tritone substitution will be made/implied by whatever the bass player does against that.

The other fun thing is to just vamp on a II♭7-V7 sequence. Some notable places you’ll encounter this in music you’ve heard include the Simpsons theme and the Beatles’ “I Am the Walrus.”



Like Sting said, “it's not a chord until the bass player decides what the root is.”


you get this nice little chromatic descending sequence happening in the bassline

If and only if the chords all stay in the same inversion and the bass line doesn't make leaps. That might be what you want and it is idiomatic in some genres/styles. But it might not be what you want or even what you get from the notation depending on how the musicians interpret the notation.


There's even a name for the 3rd and 7th. Collectively, they're known as the "guide tones".


Another lens is ii7-II♭7-IM7 = ii7-V7♭5♭9-IM7, viewing the II♭7 as an altered V7. This would retain the same 3-7 (just flips them).




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