Tritone Substitution: The substitution of a major-minor 7th chord whose root is a tritone away from the dominant for the dominant 7th chord.
Stompin’ at the Savoy (1933) by Edgar Sampson
Stompin’ at the Savoy is a 1933 jazz standard that is named after a Harlem dance club, the Savoy Ballroom.
An audio recording of Benny Goodman’s and his Orchestra play Stompin’ at the Savoy is linked to below:
For this example, we are going to look at the middle section of the piece for which the chords are shown below.
Analysis
This section (m. 11-18) of Stompin’ at the Savoy modulates through several keys. A possible analysis (shown below) has this section strating in the key of Gb, and moving through E to Db (which will mark the return of the main melody).
Measures 13-14 could be analyzed in the key of B. However, given that the F# chord is half-diminished and proceeds through a B7 to an E, these measures can be analyzed as a V7 – iiø7 – V7 resolving to E in measure 15.
The two measures containing tritone substitutions are mm. 11-12 and mm. 15-16 (shaded measures below).
Stompin’ at the Savoy, mm. 11-12
The progression is mm. 11-12, Gb7-G7-Gb7, is an example of a tritone substitution in the key of Gb. The normal V7 is the key would be Db7. Here, the G7 – the dominant 7th chord whose root is a tritone away from Db – is used instead. The tritone substitution relationship is shown below.
Therefore, m. 11-12 is analyzed as a I – TT sub – I progression in Gb major:
Stompin’ at the Savoy, mm. 15-16
Measures 15-16 contain a similar progression to the one in mm. 11-12, but in the key of E major. In E, the dominant should be a B7 chord. However, here the F7 chord is used instead; the F7 is the tritone substitution for the B7 chord:
The analysis of mm. 15-16 is then I -TT sub – I in the key of E.
The final, complete analysis of this section is shown below:
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