What notes are in Ebalt7?

Ebalt7 contains Eb · G · Db · Fb. 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 Eb Altered chord?

The Eb Altered chord contains the notes Eb · G · Db · Fb: the root Eb 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 Eb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the Eb Altered chord?

Measured from Eb, the Eb 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.

Eb Altered Chord (Ebalt7): 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	Eb3 · G3 · Db4 · Fb4
Open (drop 2)	Db3 · Eb3 · G3 · Fb4
Shell	Eb3 · G3 · Db4
Rootless	G3 · Db4 · Fb4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Eb Altered (Ebalt7) contains the notes Eb · G · Db · Fb, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

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

Inversions

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

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Eb Altered belongs to.

In which keys

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

G# minorValt7Dominant

Scales that contain it

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

Eb AlteredEb · Fb · F# · G · A · Cb · Db
Eb Phrygian DominantEb · Fb · G · Ab · Bb · Cb · Db
Eb Half-Whole DiminishedEb · Fb · Gb · G · A · Bb · C · Db
Eb Prometheus NeapolitanEb · Fb · G · A · C · Db
Eb FlamencoEb · Fb · Gb · G · A · Bb · Db
Eb Spanish HeptatonicEb · Fb · Gb · G · Ab · Bb · Cb · Db

Related chords

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

Simpler

Eb7no5Eb · G · Db

Richer

Eb7b9Eb · G · Bb · Db · Fb
Eb7#5b9Eb · G · B · Db · Fb
Eb13b9Eb · G · Bb · Db · Fb · C
Eb7b9b13Eb · G · Bb · Db · Fb · Cb
Eb7#5b9#11Eb · G · B · Db · Fb · A
Eb7b9#11Eb · G · Bb · Db · Fb · A

Common substitutions

Aalt7A · C# · G · Bb
Aalt7 shares the third and seventh of Ebalt7 a tritone away, so it can replace it as a dominant.
Bbm7Bb · Db · F · Ab
Bbm7 is the ii chord that leads into Ebalt7 in a ii–V.

Altered on every root

Calt7 C#alt7 Dalt7 Ealt7 Falt7 F#alt7 Galt7 G#alt7 Aalt7 Bbalt7 Balt7

Open it in a tool

Understanding the Eb Altered chord

Names and symbols

Ebalt7 is the chord symbol for Eb Altered.

How it is built

On Eb it is Eb · G · Db · Fb, 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 Ebalt7?: Ebalt7 contains Eb · G · Db · Fb. 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 Eb Altered chord?: The Eb Altered chord contains the notes Eb · G · Db · Fb: the root Eb 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 Eb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Eb Altered chord?: Measured from Eb, the Eb 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.