A presentation on the use of altered dominants

1. Altered Dominants
MUS 203- Section V.1

2. What we already know about dominant chords…
 They are V and V7 chords.
 They have tendency tones that must resolve in certain ways
 Leading tone (3rd of chord) goes up by step
 Seventh (scale degree 4) goes down by step
 They go to I chords (or i chords)

3. Easy example of a dominant chord
 V7 in the Key of F major:
 C, E, G, Bb
 How does it resolve?
 C goes to F
 E goes to F, can also be a frustrated leading tone going to C
 G can go to F or A. However, the A should be avoided for an awkward doubling.
 Bb goes to A

4. Adding some chromaticism
 We already know that chromatic elements were added as harmonic
language developed. Many instances of chromaticism gave the music a little
added intensity.
 The Augmented 6th chord, for example, is like a iv6 chord with a raised root.
This drives the chord more intensely to V.
 A V/V chord is a variation on the regular ii chord that gives a stronger weight
to the progression towards V.
 Typically, raised (#) notes resolve up by half step. Lowered (b) notes resolve
down by half step.

5. Putting it together
 Given what we know about dominants and what we know about chromatic
chords, we can now create a new class of chords: The Altered Dominant
 By raising or lowering the 5th of a V chord, we get an altered dominant.
 Changing this note doesn’t alter the function of the chord. It still works like a V
chord, going to I.
 Changing this one note doesn’t affect the resolution of any other notes. The
leading tone still goes up and the 7th still goes down.
 The 5th of the chord is the only thing changed. That will either go up or down by
half step, depending on whether it is raised or lowered.

6. Back to the V7 in F Major
 V7 in F is, as we observed before, C-E-G-Bb F-F-F-A
 The order of the notes tell you the resolution since I’m not writing in score. So, the
C, E, and G go to F, the Bb goes to A.
 What if we lower the G to a Gb?
 We now have an altered dominant.
 C-E-Gb-Bb F-F-F-A. The resolution hasn’t changed. The sound of the chord has.
 What if we raise the G to a G#?
 C-E-G#-Bb F-F-A-A.
 Raising the fifth in a V7 should be avoided, because it’s creates a double doubling.
 It’s ok to raise a fifth in a V chord. This makes is a V+

7. Altered Dominants
 Vb5- V chord with a lowered fifth (that must resolve downwards)
 V+, also V#5- This is a true augmented chord. The fifth resolves upward
 V7(b5) – A V7 chord with a lowered fifth. Observe the notation in parentheses.
This is a convention used in typing because most programs don’t allow the
user to have a super and a subscript. When writing, the b5 typically goes
under the 7.
 V7(#5) – A V7 chord with a raised fifth (that resolves upwards). This chord is
typically not used because it leads to a part-writing error.

8. Practice- Write the following chords and
their resolutions
 V+ in A
 Vb5 in Bb
 V7(b5) in D

9. Answers
 V+ in A
 E-G#-B#-E  A-A-C#-E
 Don’t double a tendency tone- that means leading tone (G#), altered tone (B#), or
seventh (no seventh in this chord)
 Vb5 in Bb
 F-A-Cb-F  Bb-Bb-Bb-D
 V7(b5) in D
 A-C#-Eb-A  D-D-D-F#

10. Observations
 There are not as many choices in resolutions for these chords. Almost every
pitch is a tendency tone. Don’t get creative in resolutions.
 NEVER NEVER NEVER double an altered pitch.
 Make sure that your resolution chord has a third. These are sometimes easy
to overlook, particularly in the V+ and Vb5 chords.