Strange and Repeating Chord - The Augmented

This little chord series is aimed at players who are already familiar with and using basic chords already - these are ways to spice some of the basics up. If you need to brush up or learn about basic chord usage please go to our Basic 'Essential' Chord Families Guide

E Augmented - fancy name, nice chord. One interesting thing about this chord and any augmented chord in fact, is that it repeats itself every 5 frets (inclusive).

Basically the notes in the chord swap around as you move the shape up (or down), each time, but you're still playing the same augmented chord. Here's an example with the root note on the A string at the 7th fret -

Diagram #1 E Augmented

• Beginners Diagram Tip In Diagram 1 you can see the note name and the finger used to play it. eg E3 = the note E, played with the third finger.

Bluesy Vibe

A good place to use the Augmented chord would be during a blues "Turnaround" - ie at the last measure (12) before going back to the beginning of a blues progression. Here's an example:

Standard Blues Progression:

Bars 1 - 12

You can see in measure (bar) 12 in the above example, that we've substituted an E Augmented chord for the last two strums of E7. It's a subtle but nice change, and this substitute can be most effective if you're solo-ing.

Jazzy Vibe

You can hear the "Augmented" 5 frets effect on the following demo. The chord starts in the 7th position (Diagram 1 above) and moves up 3 times ie Frets 7, 11, 15 (same shape) and finally finishes on a nice 'n' jazzy A11th chord (comin' up in the next lesson;).

EAug Demo

• Name: E Augmented
• Chord Tones: 1 3 #5
• Notes: E G# C
• An augmented chord repeats itself every 5 frets.
• Try it as a substitution on a Blue's turnaround at measure 12.

• A13 No5 - Sophisticated Bluesy N' Jazzy
• C Add 9/11 Chord - Tricky But Nice!
• Chords - A Suspended 4th
• Jazzy - Blues E9 Chord
• A Cool N' Simple Progression - 2 Chords

David

Webmaster

http://www.universal-total-guitar-plus-center.com