Chord Shapes

Dominant 7th Flat 5 Flat 9th

Intervals: 1-3-b5-b7-b9. A heavily altered dominant combining the unstable b5 with the intensely dissonant b9 against the root. It is closely related to the fully diminished chord built on the 3rd of the dominant: if you drop the root, what is left is a °7 sonority that wants to resolve by semitone into the target chord. In minor iiø–V–i cadences this sound is common as a heightened V, and in arrangements it is often voiced with close-position upper structures for maximum bite. Every altered tone is chosen for its half-step resolution into the next chord, so treat it as a concentrated packet of tension whose purpose is to move on immediately.