B Altered

Fretboard

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About

The B altered dominant (B–D♯–A–C) implies the maximum number of alterations — ♭9, ♯9, ♭5 (or ♯11), and ♯5 — stacked over a dominant base. Rather than a fixed voicing, "alt" describes a harmonic concept: a dominant chord in which both the 9th and 5th are altered, giving the player flexibility to choose which combination to voice. The 3rd and ♭7 are non-negotiable — they define the dominant function; every other note can shift. It resolves almost always to a tonic a fourth above (E or Em) and works with both major and minor targets, though the altered tensions relate most naturally to the melodic minor scale built a half step above the root. The "maximum tension before resolution" quality comes from the cumulative effect of every available note being as far from the tonic key as possible.