What notes are in Aalt7?

Aalt7 contains A · C# · G · Bb. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.

What does "altered" mean on a chord symbol?

That the fifth and ninth are raised or lowered — any combination of ♭5, ♯5, ♭9 and ♯9 — while the third and seventh stay put.

What scale fits an altered chord?

The altered scale, also called the super Locrian: the seventh mode of the melodic minor a semitone above the chord root.

What notes are in the A Altered chord?

The A Altered chord contains the notes A · C# · G · Bb: the root A with the intervals 1P, 3M, 7m, 9m stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally A, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the A Altered chord?

Measured from A, the A Altered chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 7m, 9m. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

A Altered Chord (Aalt7): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	A3 · C#4 · G4 · Bb4
Open (drop 2)	G3 · A3 · C#4 · Bb4
Shell	A3 · C#4 · G4
Rootless	C#3 · G3 · Bb3

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

A Altered (Aalt7) contains the notes A · C# · G · Bb, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords · extensions

Inversions

An inversion of A Altered puts a chord tone other than A in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales A Altered belongs to.

In which keys

A Altered is diatonic to 1 key; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

D minorValt7Dominant

Scales that contain it

A Altered fits inside these scales, each built on A.

A AlteredA · Bb · B# · C# · D# · F · G
A Phrygian DominantA · Bb · C# · D · E · F · G
A Half-Whole DiminishedA · Bb · C · C# · D# · E · F# · G
A Prometheus NeapolitanA · Bb · C# · D# · F# · G
A Mystery #1A · Bb · C# · Eb · F · G
A OrientalA · Bb · C# · D · Eb · F# · G
A FlamencoA · Bb · C · C# · D# · E · G
A EnigmaticA · Bb · C# · Eb · F · G · G#

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with A Altered: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

A7no5A · C# · G

Richer

A7b9A · C# · E · G · Bb
A7#5b9A · C# · E# · G · Bb
A13b9A · C# · E · G · Bb · F#
A7b9b13A · C# · E · G · Bb · F
A7#5b9#11A · C# · E# · G · Bb · D#
A7b9#11A · C# · E · G · Bb · D#

Common substitutions

Ebalt7Eb · G · Db · Fb
Ebalt7 shares the third and seventh of Aalt7 a tritone away, so it can replace it as a dominant.
Em7E · G · B · D
Em7 is the ii chord that leads into Aalt7 in a ii–V.

Altered on every root

Calt7 C#alt7 Dalt7 Ebalt7 Ealt7 Falt7 F#alt7 Galt7 G#alt7 Bbalt7 Balt7

Open it in a tool

Understanding the A Altered chord

Names and symbols

Aalt7 is the chord symbol for A Altered.

How it is built

On A it is A · C# · G · Bb, stacking 1P · 3M · 7m · 9m. The third and seventh stay — they are what make it a dominant — and every other note is altered.

How it is used

It is the V of a minor ii–V–i and the most highly charged dominant in the jazz vocabulary. The altered scale, the seventh mode of melodic minor, fits it exactly, which is why players learn the two together.

Learn this properly

Chapter 17: Theory in Styles

Common questions

What notes are in Aalt7?: Aalt7 contains A · C# · G · Bb. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.
What does "altered" mean on a chord symbol?: That the fifth and ninth are raised or lowered — any combination of ♭5, ♯5, ♭9 and ♯9 — while the third and seventh stay put.
What scale fits an altered chord?: The altered scale, also called the super Locrian: the seventh mode of the melodic minor a semitone above the chord root.
What notes are in the A Altered chord?: The A Altered chord contains the notes A · C# · G · Bb: the root A with the intervals 1P, 3M, 7m, 9m stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally A, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the A Altered chord?: Measured from A, the A Altered chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 7m, 9m. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.