Altered Dominant Chords in Motion

If you’re looking to deepen your fluency with altered dominant chords—and improve your ability to resolve them smoothly into major chords—this piano exercise offers a path forward.

Built around a consistent, compact voicing shape, this exercise cycles through all 12 keys while reinforcing the tension-resolution relationship at the heart of jazz harmony. It’s a musical, meditative drill that brings color and structure into every key. If you feel comfortable reading sheet music, dive into the PDF and start playing! Also, if you need it, here’s my article on reading piano notation.

Check out my Free Sheet Music Library for more!

🧠 The Formula

Each measure features an altered dominant chord resolving to a major 9th chord.

🔸 Altered Chord (e.g., F#7alt)

• Left Hand:
  Root, Major 3rd, #11 (b5), b7
  (e.g., F# – A# – C – E)
• Right Hand:
  #9 and b13, stacked as a perfect fourth
  (e.g., A – D)

This voicing captures three of the most expressive tensions in the altered scale: #11, #9, and b13.

🔹 Resolution to Imaj9 (e.g., Bmaj9)

• Left Hand:
  Major triad in second inversion
  (e.g., F# – B – D#)
• Right Hand:
  Major 7th and 3rd
  (e.g., A# – D#)

Together, these hands create a full, lush maj9 voicing that contrasts beautifully with the altered chord that came before it.

🔁 Built-In Voice Leading: A Loop Through All Keys

What makes this exercise brilliant is how each major chord naturally flows into the next altered chord.

The right-hand interval (maj7 and 3rd of the I chord) becomes the #9 and b13 of the next altered chord.

For example:

• F#7alt → Bmaj9
• The right hand ends on A# – D#
• That same interval becomes the #9 and b13 for the next chord:
  G7alt.

This process continues through all 12 keys using the exact same hand shapes/voicings.

🎯 Why Practice This?

• 🎧 Train your ear to hear and resolve altered tensions
• 🎹 Build comfort playing rich voicings across all keys
• 🧠 Strengthen voice leading and harmonic intuition
• 🎼 Develop vocabulary for comping, intros, and solo piano

This is more than an exercise—it’s a tool for developing harmonic confidence.

📄 Download the PDF

A downloadable PDF is included with the full 12-key version of this exercise. Each measure walks you through a new altered-to-major resolution, all while maintaining the same voicing logic.

🛠️ Practice Tips

• Start slow, hands together
• Focus on legato transitions and inner voice movement
• Avoid the sustain pedal at first—let your fingers do the work
• Once fluent, try improvising over each resolution before moving to the next

This exercise sounds as beautiful as it is useful. Whether you’re a student of jazz or just love colorful harmony, these chords will open new doors in your playing. Happy practicing!