Does "altered" chord have a standard meaning?

[christianm77]

#5(b6/b13) is also the only thing that distinguishes the altered scale from its parallel diminished half/whole.

Just to clarify:

Altered
1 b2 b3 3 b5 b6 b7

Half-whole
1 b2 b3 3 b5 5 6 b7

b6 or 5/6

Also,

Altered
1 b2 b3 3 b5 b6 b7

Whole Tone
1 2 3 b5 b6 b7

b2/b3 or 2

[Endorphins]

good to know

[Lionelsax]

For me altered chord means a dominant chord that's got #5 and b9, a chord that runs with super-locrian scale 7th degree of minor melodic.

But it is not so formal, generally speaking it comes from classical cadences (chord progression) in minor, they are called dominant 9th.

C minor V I
G 7 (G B D F Ab)
C - 7 (C Eb G Bb)

It sounds very natural or harmonic, it's a very old concept well known still Baroque area.
But C - 7 recalls us we are not into baroque, classical or romantic music any more.

#5 or better named b6 can be added... It sounds good when 9th is added on minor chord, it is more modern.

G alt (G B Eb F Ab)
C - 9 (C Eb G Bb D)

There is no tension on V I when it's in minor, but some tensions are added when it's a major cadence.

G alt (G B Eb F Ab)
C major 9 (C E G B D)

Dominant chord with #5 sounds very good in V I in minor, #5 is b3 of I


Well, it is the way I understand it, you can disagree.

[christianm77]

For me altered chord means a dominant chord that's got #5 and b9, a chord that runs with super-locrian scale 7th degree of minor melodic.

But it is not so formal, generally speaking it comes from classical cadences (chord progression) in minor, they are called dominant 9th.

C minor V I
G 7 (G B D F Ab)
C - 7 (C Eb G Bb)

It sounds very natural or harmonic, it's a very old concept well known still Baroque area.
But C - 7 recalls us we are not into baroque, classical or romantic music any more.

#5 or better named b6 can be added... It sounds good when 9th is added on minor chord, it is more modern.

G alt (G B Eb F Ab)
C - 9 (C Eb G Bb D)

There is no tension on V I when it's in minor, but some tensions are added when it's a major cadence.

G alt (G B Eb F Ab)
C major 9 (C E G B D)

Dominant chord with #5 sounds very good in V I in minor, #5 is b3 of I

Well, it is the way I understand it, you can disagree.

All those dominant chords were in use by Romantic era composers AFAIK...

#5 and b9 are derived from the C harmonic minor scale. If you have them in a major key, classical theorists refer to them as borrowed chords IRRC.

The jazzy thing is adding notes to them tonic chords... That's pretty 20th century....

[Lionelsax]

I think nobody understands my English.