Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitar Slim II
Sorry, still thinking about this. Now that I know it's "a thing", I want to understand it better if I ever encounter it again. And a question occured to me: Can you sub a plain dominant 7 chord for a "7 alt"?
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If you omit the 5th, yes. Root-3rd-7th is present in all varieties of dom7 chords - the essential tones that define the chord. Everything else is up for grabs, and you judge from context.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitar Slim II
So I'm still not sure I understand what the "alt" symbol is actually telling me do.
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Well, put simply, it's saying "choose b5 or #5, b9 or #9, as you like. Whatever fits. Or just play 3-b7, leave the root to the bass and the alterations to the soloist."
IOW, it's not "telling you to do" anything specific. It's offering choices.