Harmonizing with Chord Substitutions
Give your chords and melodies more flavor
Chord substitutions are a quick and easy way to add more life and flavor to your harmonization. They give you different chords that share notes with each other, giving you varying flavors of the same chord. Here’s the theory behind it:
1) Start with your triad:
Example: C-E-G or C Major
2) Add a 3rd above and a 3rd below the triad:
Example: (A)-C-E-G-(B)
3) Now you have several possible chords to choose from to substitute the original
Example:
A-C-E - A Minor
E-G-B - E Minor
A-C-E-G - A minor 7th
C-E-G-B - C Major 7th
There are many more resources, with exercises to practice, tasks, written materials and videos on CCG.