A♭ altered dominant

A♭7alt

Also written G♯7alt · A♭alt · A♭7(alt)

TonesA♭ · C · G♭ · B𝄫 · B · D · F♭
Formula1 · 3 · ♭7 · ♭9 · ♯9 · ♯11 · ♭13

B𝄫 is the key you know as A. F♭ is the key you know as E.

C3B𝄫♭9B♯9D♯11F♭♭13A♭1G♭♭7
Every tone it can use

The altered dominant: root, 3rd and ♭7, with every tension altered — ♭9 (B𝄫), ♯9 (B), ♯11 (D) and ♭13 (F♭). Nobody plays all four at once; pick two or three. Its scale is the altered scale: A melodic minor played from A♭.

How pianists voice A♭7alt

Nobody plays a jazz chord in root position. These are the shapes that actually get played — the same ones Cadenza shows when you play the chord.

Rootless A From the 3rd

C3F♭♭13B♯9G♭♭7

3 · ♭13 · ♭7 · ♯9 — 3rd, ♭13, ♭7 and ♯9: the altered voicing jazz pianists reach for first, with the root left to the bass.

Rootless B From the 7th

B♯9C3F♭♭13G♭♭7

♭7 · ♯9 · 3 · ♭13 — the same four notes from the ♭7: ♭7, ♯9, 3rd and ♭13.

Upper structure ♭VI Triad over shell

C3B♯9F♭♭13A♭1G♭♭7A♭1

1 · 3 · ♭7 · 1 · ♯9 · ♭13 — an E major triad in the right hand (♭13, root and ♯9) over the root, 3rd and ♭7 in the left. One familiar shape, all the tension.

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