Quote:
Originally Posted by JonPR
Well, put simply, it's saying "choose b5 or #5, b9 or #9, as you like.
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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".
So let me pose another question: In the "Child is Born" chart, why does it call for a "7alt"
in that specific measure?
The chart contains other altered chords -- aug7s, 7#9s etc. So why is that single chord, in that single location, different from the other chords in the chart? Why did the arranger call for a "7alt" chord
at that particular point in the chart, and nowhere else?
To put it another way: if it's about freedom and options, then why not apply the "7alt" to other dominant chords in the chart? If you want the the players come up with their own tensions, fine, but the why not make the whole chart that way, instead of one isolated chord?
I get what folks are saying about general altered chords and keeping things open...but It's still not clear why the "alt" symbol is used in certain situations and not in others. Is it, as another member implied, just a vague, incomplete and possible lazy way to harmonize -- artistic considerations notwithstanding?