Altered chord

An altered dominant chord in C major[1]

An altered chord is a chord in which one

or more notes from the diatonic scale is
replaced with a neighboring pitch from
the chromatic scale. According to the
broadest definition any chord with a
nondiatonic chord tone is an altered
chord, while the simplest use of altered
chords is the use of borrowed chords,
chords borrowed from the parallel key,
and the most common is the use of
secondary dominants. As Alfred Blatter
explains,"An altered chord occurs when
one of the standard, functional chords is
given another quality by the modification
of one or more components of the
chord."[2]

For example, altered notes may be used

as leading tones to emphasize their
diatonic neighbors. Contrast this with
chord extensions:

Whereas chord extension

generally involves adding notes
 that are logically implied,
chord alteration involves
changing some of the typical
notes. This is usually done on
dominant chords, and the four
alterations that are commonly
used are the ♭5, ♯5, ♭9 and ♯9.
Using one (or more) of these
notes in a resolving dominant
chord greatly increases the bite
in the chord and therefore the
power of the resolution.[3]

In jazz harmony, chromatic alteration is

either the addition of notes not in the
scale or expansion of a [chord]
progression by adding extra non-diatonic
chords.[4] For example, "A C major scale
with an added D♯ note, for instance, is a
chromatically altered scale" while, "one
bar of Cmaj7 moving to Fmaj7 in the next
bar can be chromatically altered by
adding the ii and V of Fmaj7 on the
second two beats of bar" one.
Techniques include the ii-V-I turnaround,
as well as movement by half-step or
minor third.[5]

The five most common types of altered

dominants are: V+, V7♯5 (both raised
fifths), V♭5, V7♭5 (both lowered fifths), and
Vø7 (lowered fifth and third).[6]

Background

A chord progression with chords borrowed from the

parallel minor

"Borrowing" of this type is seen in music

from the Renaissance music era and the
Baroque music era (1600–1750), such as
with the use of the Picardy third, in which
a piece in a minor key has a final or
intermediate cadence in the tonic major
chord. "Borrowing" is also common in
20th century popular music and rock
music.

For example, in music in a major key,

such as C major, composers and
songwriters may use a B♭ major chord,
which is "borrowed" from the key of C
minor (where it is the VII chord).
Similarly, in music in a minor key,
composers and songwriters often
"borrow" chords from the tonic major. For
example, pieces in C minor often use F
major and G major (IV and V chords),
which are "borrowed" from the key of C
major.
More advanced types of altered chords
were used by Romantic music era
composers in the 19th century, such as
Chopin and by jazz composers and
improvisers in the 20th and 21st century.
For example, the chord progression on
the left uses four unaltered chords, while
the progression on the right uses an
altered IV chord and is an alteration of
the previous progression:[1]

   
The A♭ in the altered chord serves as a
leading tone to G, which is the root of the
next chord.

The object of such foreign tones

is: to enlarge and enrich the
scale; to confirm the melodic
tendency of certain tones...; to
contradict the tendency of
others...; to convert inactive
tones into active [leading
tones]...; and to affiliate the
keys, by increasing the number
of common tones.[7]
 

The augmented fifth often appears in the soprano

voice, as here in Franck's Symphonic Variations.[8]

According to one definition, "when a

chord is chromatically altered, and the
thirds remain large [major] or small
[minor], and is not used in modulation, it
is an altered chord."[9] According to
another, "all chords... having a major
third, i.e., either triads, sevenths, or
ninths, with the fifth chromatically raised
or chromatically lowered, are altered
chords," while triads with a single altered
note are considered, "changes of form
[quality]," rather than alteration.[10]

According to composer Percy

Goetschius, "Altered... chords contain
one or more tones written with
accidentals (♯, ♭, or ♮) and therefore
foreign to the scale in which they appear,
but nevertheless, from their connections
and their effect, obviously belonging to
the principal key of their phrase."[7]
Richard Franko Goldman argues that,
once one accepts, "the variability of the
scale," the concept of altered chords
becomes unnecessary: "In reality, there is
nothing 'altered' about them; they are
entirely natural elements of a single key
system,"[11] and it is, "not necessary," to
use the term as each 'altered chord' is,
"simply one of the possibilities regularly
existing and employed."[12]

Dan Haerle argues that only fifths and

ninths may be altered, as all other
alterations may be interpreted as an
unaltered chord tone or, enharmonically,
as an altered fifth or ninth (for example,
♯1 = ♭9 and ♭4 = 3).[13][14]

Altered seventh chord

 
An altered dominant seventh chord arising from
voice leading in the first movement of Chopin's Piano
Sonata No. 2, Op. 35[8]

An altered seventh chord is a seventh

chord with one, or all,[15] of its factors
raised or lowered by a semitone (altered),
for example, the augmented seventh
chord (7+ or 7+5) featuring a raised
fifth[16] (C7+5: C–E–G♯–B♭). Most likely
the fifth, then the ninth, then the
thirteenth.[15] All secondary dominants
are altered chords. In classical music, the
raised fifth is more common than the
lowered fifth, which in a dominant chord
adds Phrygian flavor through the
introduction of ♭ .[8]

Altered dominant chord

An altered dominant chord is, "a
dominant triad of a 7th chord that
contains a raised or lowered fifth and
sometimes a lowered 3rd."[17] According
to Dan Haerle, "Generally, altered
dominants can be divided into three main
groups: altered 5th, altered 9th, and
altered 5th and 9th."[13] This definition
allows three to five options, including the
original:
 C7: C–E–
G–B♭
C7♭5: C–E–
G♭–B♭
C7♯5: C–E–
 
G♯–B♭
(Cø7: C–E♭–
G♭–B♭)
(Cm7♯5: C–
E♭–G♯–B♭)

Alfred Music gives nine options for

altered dominants,[14] the last four of
which contain two alterations each:[18][19]
C7: C–E–  
G–B♭
C7♭5: C–E–  
G♭–B♭
C7♯5: C–E–
G♯–B♭
C7♭9: C–E–
G–B♭–D♭
C7♯9: C–E–
G–B♭–D♯
C7♭5♭9: C–
E–G♭–B♭–
D♭
C7♯5♯9: C–
E–G♯–B♭–
D♯
 C7♭5♯9: C–
E–G♭–B♭–
D♯
C7♯5♭9: C–
E–G♯–B♭–
D♭

Pianist Noah Baerman writes that "The

point of having an altered note in a
dominant chord is to build more tension
(leading to a correspondingly more
powerful resolution)."[18]

Alt chord
This section needs additional citations for
verification. Learn more
 

G7alt chord with ♭5 and ♯5 as well as ♭9 and ♯9

In jazz, the term altered chord, notated as

an alt chord (e.g. G7alt), refers to a
dominant chord, in which neither the fifth
nor the ninth is unaltered[20]—namely,
where the 5th and the 9th are raised or
lowered by a single semitone, or omitted.
Altered chords are thus constructed
using the following notes, some of which
may be omitted:

root (typically omitted by comping

chord-playing instrumentalists)
 3rd
♭5th and/or ♯5th (the ♭5th is often
expressed as ♯11)
♭7th
♭9th and/or ♯9th
♭13th

Altered chords may include both a

flattened and sharpened form of the
altered fifth or ninth, e.g. G7(♭5♯5♭9);
however, it is more common to use only
one such alteration per tone, e.g. G7(♭5♭9),
G7(♭5♯9), G7(♯5♭9), or G7(♯5♯9).

 
In practice, many fake books do not
specify all the alterations; the chord is
typically just labelled as G7alt, and the
alteration of 9ths, 11ths and 13ths is left
to the artistic discretion of the comping
musician. The use of chords labeled
"G7alt" can create challenges in jazz
ensembles where more than one chordal
instrument are playing chords (e.g., a
large band with an electric guitar player
and a Hammond organ player), because
the guitarist might interpret a G7alt chord
as containing a ♭9 and ♭13, whereas the
organ player may interpret the same
chord as containing a ♯9 and a ♮13; this
can lead to clashing harmonies. To deal
with this issue, bands with more than one
chordal instrument may work out the alt
chord voicings beforehand or alternate
playing of choruses.

The choice of inversion, or the omission

of certain tones within the chord (e.g.
omitting the root, common in jazz
harmony and chord voicings), can lead to
many different possible colorings,
substitutions, and enharmonic
equivalents. Altered chords are
ambiguous harmonically, and may play a
variety of roles, depending on such
factors as voicing, modulation, and voice
leading.

 
The altered scale on C

The altered chord's harmony is built on

the altered scale (C, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B♭,
C), which includes all the alterations
shown in the chord elements above:[21]

root
♭9 (= ♭2)
♯9 (= ♯2 or ♭3)
3
♯11 (= ♯4 or ♭5)
♭13 (= ♯5)
♭7
 

Tritone substitution for C7 (F♯7) and altered chord

(C7(♯5♯9)) as "nearly identical"[22]

Because they do not have natural fifths,

altered dominant (7alt) chords support
tritone substitution (♭5 substitution).
Thus, the 7alt chord on a given root can
be substituted with the 13♯11 chord on
the root a tritone away (e.g., G7alt is the
same as D♭13♯11).

 
See also

Look up alteration in Wiktionary, the

free dictionary.

Augmented sixth chord

Bar-line shift
Blue note
Blues scale
Harmonic major scale
Jazz minor scale
Modal interchange
Neapolitan chord
Phrygian dominant scale

Sources
1. Erickson, Robert (1957). The
Structure of Music: A Listener's
Guide, p.86. New York: Noonday
Press. ISBN 0-8371-8519-X (1977
edition).
2. Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting
Music Theory: A Guide to the
Practice, p.186. ISBN 0-415-97440-2.
3. Baerman, Noah (1998). Complete
Jazz Keyboard Method: Intermediate
Jazz Keyboard, p.70. ISBN 0-88284-
911-5.
4. Arkin, Eddie (2004). Creative Chord
Substitution for Jazz Guitar, p.42.
ISBN 0-7579-2301-1.
5. Arkin (2004), p.43.
 6. Benward and Saker (2009), p.193.
7. Goetschius, Percy (1889). The
Material Used in Musical
Composition , p.123-4. G. Schirmer.
[ISBN unspecified]
8. Aldwell, Edward; Schachter, Carl; and
Cadwallader, Allen (2010). Harmony
& Voice Leading, p.601.
ISBN 9780495189756.
9. Bradley, Kenneth McPherson (1908).
Harmony and Analysis , p.119. C. F.
Summy. [ISBN unspecified]
10. Norris, Homer Albert (1895).
Practical Harmony on a French Basis,
Volume 2 , p.48. H.B. Stevens. [ISBN
unspecified]
11. Goldman, Richard Franko (1965).
Harmony in Western Music, p.83-4.
Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0-214-66680-
8
12. Goldman (1965), p.47.
13. Haerle, Dan (1983). Jazz
Improvisation for Keyboard Players,
Book two, p.2.19. Alfred Music.
ISBN 9780757930140
14. Alfred Music (2013). Mini Music
Guides: Piano Chord Dictionary, p.22-
3. Alfred Music.
ISBN 9781470622244
15. Davis, Kenneth (2006). The Piano
Professor Easy Piano Study, p.78.
ISBN 9781430303343.
16. Christiansen, Mike (2004). Mel Bay's
Complete Jazz Guitar Method,
Volume 1, p.45.
ISBN 9780786632633.
17. Benward, Bruce; Saker, Marilyn (May
2008). "Glossary", Music in Theory
and Practice, Vol. II, p. 355.
ISBN 978-0-07-310188-0
18. Baerman, Noah (2000). Jazz
Keyboard Harmony, p.40. Alfred
Music. ISBN 9780739011072
19. Baerman (1998), p.74.
20. Sher (ed.). The New Real Book
Volume Two,. Sher Music Co., 1991,
ISBN 0-9614701-7-8
21. Brown, Buck; and Dziuba, Mark
(2012). The Ultimate Guitar Chord &
Scale Bible, p.197. Alfred Music.
ISBN 9781470622626 "In a dominant
7 context, this scale contains the
root, 3rd, and ♭7 of the dominant
chord and includes all of the
available tensions: ♭9, ♯9, ♯11, and
♭13.
22. Coker, Jerry (1997). Elements of the
Jazz Language for the Developing
Improvisor, p.81. ISBN 1-57623-875-
X.

Further reading
R., Ken (2012). DOG EAR Tritone
Substitution for Jazz Guitar, Amazon
 Digital Services, Inc., ASIN:
B008FRWNIW

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