Aaug — A augmented chord
Root, major third and augmented fifth: two stacked major thirds. Because the thirds are equal the chord divides the octave into three, so it has three enharmonic spellings and only four distinct forms.
- 1 = A
- 3 = C#
- #5 = E#
- Symbol
- Aaug
- Root
- A
- Quality
- Augmented
- Family
- triad
- Notes
- A C# E#
- Degree formula
1 3 #5- Semitones from the root
0 4 8- Distinct pitch classes
- 3
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 4 semitones, 4 semitones
- Notation
- Written aug or with a plus sign, for example Caug or C+.
- Key
- A · A major / F# minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 3 | C# | 4 | Major third |
| #5 | E# | 8 | Minor sixth |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | A | 1 | A – C# – E# | 0 4 8 |
| first inversion | C# | 3 | C# – E# – A | 0 4 8 |
| second inversion | E# | #5 | E# – A – C# | 0 4 8 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5-4-3-2-2-5 | A C# F A C# A | 1 3 #5 1 3 1 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | 5-4-3-6-6-5 | A C# F C# F A | 1 3 #5 3 #5 1 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 5-4-7-6-6-5 | A C# A C# F A | 1 3 1 3 #5 1 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 5-8-7-6-6-5 | A F A C# F A | 1 #5 1 3 #5 1 | A | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 5-4-3-2-2-1 | A C# F A C# F | 1 3 #5 1 3 #5 | A | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 5-4-3-2-6-5 | A C# F A F A | 1 3 #5 1 #5 1 | A | 4 | 6 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
- KeyEverything in A
- ScaleA whole tone
- ChordC#aug
- ChordFaug
Related
- KeyKey of A
- ScaleA whole tone
- ChordC#aug — Augmented
- ChordFaug — Augmented
- ChordAdim — Diminished
- ChordA — Major
- ChordAm — Minor
- DegreesA — degree map