Aalt (altered dominant)

5-note altered dominant on AA, C♯, D♯, E, G.

Press to hear the chord strummed low to high.

The altered dominant — chords-db voices it as a 7♯11 shape (third, raised eleventh and flat seventh). Maximum tension before the release.

The notes

Pitches taken from the first fingering below — click any note to open its frequency page.

Interval formula

DegreeNoteWhat it is
1Aroot
3C♯major third
♯11D♯sharp eleventh (tritone)
5Eperfect fifth
♭7Gflat seventh (dominant)

The formula reads in semitones above the root (A): 1, 3, ♯11, 5, ♭7. A voicing may leave a tone out — often the fifth — but never adds one from outside this set.

Guitar fingerings · 4

123
open position
4fr4312
from fret 4
8fr4132
from fret 8
12fr1234
from fret 12

Ukulele fingerings · 3

2fr1243
from fret 2
3fr4132
from fret 3
6fr1341
from fret 6

Read a diagram top-down: the thick bar is the nut, dots are where to press (the number is which finger), means play the open string, means don't play it. A bar across strings is a barre.

Other A chords

alt (altered dominant) chords on every root