Talk:Chord substitution

Chord Substitutions only used in Jazz
From this article, I get the impression that chord substitutions are solely the domain of jazz and if any body is using them, it will be a jazz composer, jazz arranger, and/or jazz performer. Not to take away anything from jazz, but chord substitutions have been around longer than jazz has. This article should be a little more general than as it is presented here. Jmckaskle (talk) 18:52, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree,and further, this is only one substitution system. There's much more to it. What would be great is an article which covers most of them and gives an overview of their usage.Wblakesx (talk) 00:00, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Since "classical" music is mostly written out (and seldom improvised harmonically) one might add the specification "jazz-" in front of music-theory at the opening sentence. I am aware - being a music historian myself - that any alterated/dominant chord can be replaced by another, but that effects only the composing or analyzing process. So-called "Verwandschaftsgrade" (german for the grade/level of tonal similitudiny, don't know the english word) define the possibility of any substitution. BUT: it is still something different to play f.e. am7 instead of C6, although they share - as an ideal example - four identical notes. I would recommend to point out, that any chord substitution has to be considered in view of its harmonic function. That would made the substitution of subdominant or dominant part much easier to explain, than any changes of tonality by substituts of the root-based (or tonic-) harmonies. Since I do like Jazz very much (the old styles most) I maybe so bold to submit, that Jazz seems to be by definition the very concept of substitutionable harmonic structures, hence a randomly cultured kind of playing with tonality.--85.179.219.3 (talk) 16:34, 12 April 2015 (UTC)

There is a mistake in second classica music example
In the Bach St Matthew Passion No 46 Chorale Herzliebster Jesu different harmonization the second chord is not a D minor chord, but an E minor (E, E, G, B - tones from sheet). The chord progression is B7/D# Em E#° F# - so the chromatic steps in bass are D# E E#. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 178.40.173.105 (talk) 10:13, 4 May 2020 (UTC) I have corrected thisSpencerpiers (talk) 13:53, 2 January 2022 (UTC)

The key of F is not one that a lot of learning blues guitarists use.
While the key of F is common enough in jazz, putting the examples in that key requires an extra learning step for blues guitar students wanting to embellish their existing knowledge. Most blues guitar students are most familiar with the keys E and A and transpositions of the exercises to these keys would be of great help to them. 2403:580B:879A:0:1145:E13E:2497:5BB4 (talk) 01:23, 6 December 2023 (UTC)
 * There are a lot of things that Wikipedia is not. It’s not an instruction manual.  (See:  WP:NOTGUIDE)  It’s an encyclopedia, and its content needs to fit that idea.  Many various key preferences do exist.  In Blues there are even more preferences than are mentioned in the comment above.  Key preferences also are found among guitarists, among bagpipers, among beginning students, in Irish traditional music, Greek traditional music, ancient forms of music, Romani music, Jazz, among individuals, and on and on.  (George M. Cohan preferred to compose in the keys of G-flat or F-sharp).  The examples in this article, as it stands now, appear to be written in common key signatures.William11002 (talk) 12:44, 12 December 2023 (UTC)