"X"7 alt chords

trumbology

Musicially literate friends:

When I'm reading a fakebook chart (as a rhythm guitarist) and come across, say, G7 alt, do I play a standard G7 while the soloist uses the altered scale on top, or am I supposed to play a G7 with b9, #9, b5, #5, and b7.

Or is there some common compromise chord for rhythm players who typically use 3,4, or 5 note voicings?

Thanks,

Neil the unschooled

dennis

i think it depends on a few factors:

-who you're backing up (some people have certain preferences others don't care)
-what style you're playing
-the head
-what you think the soloist might be going after.

the safest best is obviously to leave out all the fancy stuff and play 1,3 and b7...

in gypsy style, most guitar players approach altered chords by simply playing 7#5

here's a very popular shape among gypsy rhythm players

e
b 4
g 4
d 3
a
e 3

those who play the bass with the thumb usually add the following top note


e 3
b 4
g 4
d 3
a
e 3

in the django style (at least nowadays) most rhythm guitar players use all dominant chords interchangeably regardless of situation... they just go by instinct.... this is especially true for someone who's really comping (ie not doing boom chuck)... don't be surprised if someone plays a G13b9 where it usually doesn't work!

nwilkins

Hey Neil,

it can be safe just to play the root 3rd and b7th. Definitely don't play the natural 5th. In more straight ahead jazz though, some kind of altered dominant is often what you'd play. In most situations it doesn't matter specifically what voicing you choose - the chord symbol tells the soloist to use an altered dominant scale over that part of the song, so whatever alt chord you play will generally fit with the soloist's note choices.

As an aside, a chord symbol often implies more chord tones/tensions than you might think, since it refers to a scale (or mode). For instance, if you see Maj7#5 you could play Maj7#4 voicing (without the #5) since the #4 is also in the lydian augmented scale. Similarly, the 7b9 chord symbol can imply b9, #9 and #11. It is generally written simply as b9 for ease of reading charts.

trumbology

Very good, thanks.

For awhile, I was just absentmindedly reading an 'alt' chord as an agumented chord, then one day the light went on and I realized I didn't know the difference.

For instance, if you see Maj7#5 you could play Maj7#4 voicing (without the #5) since the #4 is also in the lydian augmented scale.

That concept is interesting. I had no idea!



Thanks for the clarification,

Neil