Once you have a new piece of knowledge, e.g., how to create altered chords, it is easy to get carried away and over-use your new knowledge. However, it is just as important to know when not to use something. Music is always a balance of tension and release. Altered chords are great for creating tension, so it makes sense to move from an altered chord to an unaltered chord to release that tension. Another way of using tension and release is to alternate between busy rhythmic sections and sparser sections containing more sustained notes, or rests. These things are demonstrated in the following example.