This article assumes the reader is familar with Diatonic Harmony as well as basic Non-Diatonic Harmony concepts that form the basis of Jazz. If you are not familiar with these concepts do a search on Google - there are tons of resources out there that cover these topics.

All musicians start with basic concepts which they then use as a launching pad into more creative musical realms. One basic concept that forms the foundation for so much of the musician's craft is the concept of chord progressions and harmonic movement.

Once a musician learns the basics of any given technique, there is a natural desire to expand and take the knowledge and techniques to the next level. Chord Substitution is the next logical progression that exposes a musician to more creative and harmonically interesting approaches to songwriting. There are numerous Chord Substitution methods and in this article we will cover the most common approaches.

First, we will cover the backcycling technique which makes use of the circle of fifths.