Aaug guitar chord
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Aaug — 1st inversion
Aaug is A, C# and E# — A with the fifth raised a semitone.
It sounds stretched, and suspended between keys. Its commonest job is passing between a major triad and its sixth or seventh, with the raised fifth as a single voice walking up.
Aaug notes and formula
| A | C# | E# |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | ♯5 |
Passing chord — it belongs to no key in particular.
Also written A+, A(#5) or A augmented. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Aaug
Aaug in 1st inversion puts C# in the bass instead of A, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Aaug’s 9 common shapes does this: x-x-11-10-10-9.
Start with xxx221 — only 3 fretted notes and down at the nut. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. None of them needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xxx221 | 1st fret | A, root position | E# | all fretted |
| x03221 | open position | A, root position | E# | 1 open string |
| 54322x | 2nd fret | A, root position | C# | all fretted |
| 5x7665 | 5th fret | A, root position | A | all fretted |
| xx7665 | 5th fret | A, root position | A | all fretted |
| x-x-11-10-10-9 | 9th fret | C#, 1st inversion | C# | all fretted |
| x-12-11-10-10-x | 10th fret | A, root position | A | all fretted |
| x-12-x-14-14-13 | 12th fret | A, root position | E# | all fretted |
| x-12-15-14-14-x | 12th fret | A, root position | C# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 45 triad voicings, each on its own page.
What to play over Aaug
Every note of Aaug is in A whole tone and A altered.
Chords near Aaug
Change one note of Aaug and you have A (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth), Amaj7#5 (add the major seventh), Aaug7 (add the flat seventh), A/E (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth), A/F (add the fifth) or A/C# (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth).
Aaug is a augmented chord — root, major third, sharp fifth. Augmented chords on every root.
On Aaug’s sound and use this page follows Stefan Kostka, Dorothy Payne & Byron Almén, Tonal Harmony (McGraw-Hill, 8th ed., 2018). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.