Caug7 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Caug7 — open string voicings
Caug7 is C, E, G# and Bb — C7 with the fifth raised a semitone.
It sounds strained and chromatic. The raised fifth is heard as a ♭13 sitting a semitone above where it is going, so the chord pushes harder than a plain dominant.
Altered dominant — the pull of a 7, sharpened.
Caug7 notes and formula
| C | E | G# | Bb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | ♯5 | ♭7 |
Also written C7#5, C+7 or C7(#5). The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Caug7
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Caug7 has 1 of them, only on strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, all of them at the 3rd fret — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Play Caug7 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the b9 (Db), the 9 (D), the #9 (D#) or the #11 (F#).
All 5 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- x323x4, 2nd fret, C, root position, top note G#, all fretted
- x36354, 3rd fret, C, root position, top note G#, all fretted
- 8x8990, 8th fret, C, root position, top note G#, 1 open string
- 878x9x, 7th fret, C, root position, top note G#, all fretted
- x-x-10-13-11-12, 10th fret, C, root position, top note E, all fretted
How to use Caug7
Caug7 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at F — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
In a phrase:Gm7→Caug7→Fmaj7— the ii–V–I of F.
Voice by voice, Caug7 → F. 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In Caug7 | Moves | In F |
|---|---|---|
| C, the root | stays where it is | C, the fifth |
| E, the major third | rises a semitone | F, the root |
| G#, the sharp fifth | rises a semitone | A, the major third |
| Bb, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | A, the major third |
What to play over Caug7
Every note of Caug7 is in C whole tone and C altered.
Chords near Caug7
Change one note of Caug7 and you have Cmaj7#5 (the flat seventh becomes the major seventh), C7 (the sharp fifth becomes the fifth), C7/G (the sharp fifth becomes the fifth), C7b5 (the sharp fifth becomes the flat fifth), Calt (add the flat ninth) or Caug (drop the flat seventh).
Caug7 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. Altered dominant chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.