Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitar Slim II
I'm not so sure...in the "Child is Born" chart you couldn't use just ANY altered chord, could you? If certain tensions are implied by the melody, then by extension certain tensions would be excluded. So it seems to me that it's more sophisticated than just "any altered dominant will do".
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But that's what I meant by "whatever fits" - which translates as "context".
The idea is that any jazz musician seeing "7alt" knows the options available, and doesn't need to be told, because they'll look at the context
first. They'll probably be playing the melody before they play the chords.
I.e., you could interpret "7alt" as shorthand for "use whatever alterations suit the melody" - because the writer is too lazy to write them out. (Yes, jazz chord chart writers really are that lazy: how else you do explain the use of "-" instead of "m". "Oh man, that "m" takes too much time, I'm just gonna do a dash..."
)
Sometimes, context is very prescriptive, but in that case you'd probably see the alterations spelled out. "7#5#9" or whatever. In other cases, the melody might well dictate which alterations fit, while you'd be free to choose others when soloing. Sometimes jazz charts actually offer two choices for a chord at any point - one that fits the melody, one as a second option for soloing. Chord symbols are often suggestive rather than prescriptive.