Fifths in Bossa Novas, sambas, etc.

[ding_man]

In Latin music I have noticed that in written bass lines I have played during chords when the fifth is altered you play a perfect fifth unaltered against the chord (I'm not sure if its just with augmented or with diminished too you can clear that up) Now I've seen it several times and even listened to some recordings of some different songs to see if they did it.

Is there any theory behind this or is the tension between it and the style of the bass line just a significant part of latin music?

[Mark Wilson]

Is it an altered chord? Like a #11? Or a #5, or b5?

cause there's a difference between a #11 and an Altered 5th. I just wanna make sure I got this right.

[DocBop]

Latin music especially Brazilian is full of minor II-V's which would be for example Dmi7b5 to G7 alt in C minor. So the II chord has a flat 5th and if you are going to play the fifth it should be flatted. The V chord is an altered dominant so it can or will contain altered 9's and 5's, so you ear has to help you determine what the other chordal players are doing.

[mambo4]

My Latin experience is mostly Cuban music. Invariably, if the chord is written as a flat 5 i played a flat five.