Using the tritone
Guitar Techniques|Spring 2020
Got your accidentals covered? John Wheatcroft sorts out your flat 5ths from your raised 4ths, as he looks at ways to apply the tritone interval in jazz.
John Wheatcroft
Using the tritone

The tritone interval has attained notoriety for providing both dissonance and menace in music, at one point in history earning the title of ‘Diabolus in Musica’ (the devil in music). Constructed from the symmetrical distance of three tone spaces (literally tri-tones), this edgy musical formula is used in heavy rock music, milking the evil symbolism of recurring sixes (666) for all its worth. While this might be the obvious application for such a sound, what we’re exploring here today is the value of this intriguing interval in jazz music, along with its close relation, the blues.

This story is from the Spring 2020 edition of Guitar Techniques.

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This story is from the Spring 2020 edition of Guitar Techniques.

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