Extended & Altered Dominant Function
Stack on a 9th, sharpen an 11th, flatten a 13th — a dominant chord can wear almost any color and still do its one job: resolve to the tonic.
Extending a dominant chord
A basic V7 chord is root–3rd–5th–b7. Keep stacking in 3rds past the 7th and you get extensions: a 9th, an 11th, and a 13th. In C major, G7 (G–B–D–F) can become G9 (adds A), or G13 (adds E on top, often dropping the 9th and 11th in practice). None of these extra notes change what the chord is doing — it's still V, still built to resolve down a 5th into C.
Altering a dominant chord
An altered dominant raises or lowers one of those upper extensions by a half-step for extra tension: b9, #9 (the famous "Hendrix chord" color), #11, or b13. As long as the root, 3rd, and 7th are untouched, the chord's core identity as V doesn't change — the alteration just adds a sharper, more dissonant flavor on top before it resolves.
Why the resolution still works
The tritone between the 3rd (B) and b7 (F) is what drives a dominant chord's pull toward resolution — and every extension or alteration in this lesson leaves that tritone completely intact. The added color notes ride along for the resolution without disturbing the engine underneath, which is exactly why jazz musicians feel free to pile on so much extra tension.
Common questions
What is an extended dominant chord?
A dominant 7 chord with an added 9th, 11th, or 13th stacked in 3rds — the color doesn't change its function; it still resolves as V.
What is an altered dominant chord?
A dominant 7 chord with an upper extension raised or lowered a half-step (b9, #9, #11, b13), adding tension while still resolving like a normal V.
Do extensions and alterations change a dominant chord's function?
No — as long as the root, 3rd, and 7th are intact, the chord still functions as V; extensions and alterations just add color.
How common are altered dominants in jazz?
Extremely common — nearly every dominant chord in jazz gets some extension or alteration.
Color every dominant chord
Melody Monkey's Songwriting Studio lets you stack extensions and alterations onto any dominant chord and hear the result.
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