Caug — C 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 = C
- 3 = E
- #5 = G#
- Symbol
- Caug
- Root
- C
- Quality
- Augmented
- Family
- triad
- Notes
- C E G#
- 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
- C · C major / A 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 | C | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 3 | E | 4 | Major third |
| #5 | G# | 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 | C | 1 | C – E – G# | 0 4 8 |
| first inversion | E | 3 | E – G# – C | 0 4 8 |
| second inversion | G# | #5 | G# – C – E | 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 | 8-7-6-5-5-8 | C E G# C E C | 1 3 #5 1 3 1 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 2 | 8-7-6-9-9-8 | C E G# E G# C | 1 3 #5 3 #5 1 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 8-7-10-9-9-8 | C E C E G# C | 1 3 1 3 #5 1 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 8-11-10-9-9-8 | C G# C E G# C | 1 #5 1 3 #5 1 | C | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 8-7-6-5-5-4 | C E G# C E G# | 1 3 #5 1 3 #5 | C | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 8-7-6-5-9-8 | C E G# C G# C | 1 3 #5 1 #5 1 | C | 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 C
- ScaleC whole tone
- ChordEaug
- ChordAbaug
Related
- KeyKey of C
- ScaleC whole tone
- ChordEaug — Augmented
- ChordAbaug — Augmented
- ChordCdim — Diminished
- ChordC — Major
- ChordCm — Minor
- DegreesC — degree map