Ebaug7 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 Ebaug7 — open string voicings
Ebaug7 is Eb, G, B and Db — Eb7 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.
Ebaug7 notes and formula
| Eb | G | B | Db |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | ♯5 | ♭7 |
Altered dominant — the pull of a 7, sharpened.
Also written Eb7#5, Eb+7 or Eb7(#5). The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Ebaug7
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.
Ebaug7 has 4 of them, on strings 5-4-3-2-1, strings 6-4-3-2-1, the top four strings and the middle four strings, from the 4th fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass, B in the bass and Db in the bass. The one to learn first is the Db shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx1423 — down at the nut. None of the shapes for Ebaug7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. None of them needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 12th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx1423 | 1st fret | Eb, root position | G | all fretted |
| x656x7 | 5th fret | Eb, root position | B | all fretted |
| x69687 | 6th fret | Eb, root position | B | all fretted |
| 11-10-11-0-0-9 | 9th fret | Eb, root position | Db | 2 open strings |
| 11-10-11-x-12-x | 10th fret | Eb, root position | B | all fretted |
| 11-x-11-12-12-x | 11th fret | Eb, root position | B | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 3 shell, 13 drop 2 and 8 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Ebaug7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the b9 (Fb), the 9 (F), the #9 (F#) and the #11 (A).
How to use Ebaug7
Ebaug7 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at Ab — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.
Voice by voice, Ebaug7 → Ab. 3 voices move by a semitone, and one note is common to both chords.
| In Ebaug7 | Moves | In Ab |
|---|---|---|
| Eb, the root | stays where it is | Eb, the fifth |
| G, the major third | rises a semitone | Ab, the root |
| B, the sharp fifth | rises a semitone | C, the major third |
| Db, the flat seventh | falls a semitone | C, the major third |
What to play over Ebaug7
Every note of Ebaug7 is in Eb whole tone and Eb altered.
Chords near Ebaug7
Change one note of Ebaug7 and you have Ebmaj7#5 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh), Eb7 (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth), Eb7b5 (the sharp fifth becomes a flat fifth), Ebalt (add the flat ninth), Ebaug (drop the flat seventh) or Ebaug9 (add the ninth).
Ebaug7 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. Altered dominant chords on every root.
On Ebaug7’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.