Dominant Minor Substitution
Another common form of chord substitution is using chord IIm as a triad instead of chord 57. Once again, this is because of notes common to both chords. Shown below are a G7 chord and a Dm chord (triad). The notes D and F are in both chords. The A note in the Dm chord implies a 9th when played over a G7 chord. This is called a dominant minor substitution.
Listen to the CD to hear the Dominant 9th chord effect produced by this substitution.
Using chord 2 in this manner as a min7 chord instead of a triad requires more care because the 7th degree of chord 2is the 4th degree of the 5 chord (e.g. a C note in Dm7). This means it will clash with the 3rd of the chord (e.g. a B note in G7) However, this problem can be turned into an advantage by making the 7th of the min7 chord function as a suspension which resolves down a semitone to the 6th, which is the 3rd of the 5 chord as shown in the following example.
If you analyze the melodic line of the above example you will find that by using the dominant minor substitutions and by having each suspension resolve, you end up with a short 2 5 progression in each bar, resulting in the following new progression shown by the chord symbols. Write the degrees under each note and see how they make up the chords shown above the notes. Notice also that 5 becomes the 2 of the next bar, changing from dominant to minor each time.
