Gaug 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 Gaug — open string voicings
Gaug is G, B and D# — G 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.
Gaug notes and formula
| G | B | D# |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | ♯5 |
Passing chord — it belongs to no key in particular.
Also written G+, G(#5) or G augmented. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gaug
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.
Gaug has 1 of them, only on the middle four strings, all of them at the 5th fret — all in one inversion, so the bass note never moves. The one to learn first is the D# shape at the 5th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with 32100x — 2 open strings and only 3 fretted notes. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 32100x | open position | G, root position | B | 2 open strings |
| 3x5443 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| xx5443 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| xx9887 | 7th fret | B, 1st inversion | B | all fretted |
| x-10-9-8-8-x | 8th fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| x-10-x-12-12-11 | 10th fret | G, root position | D# | all fretted |
| x-10-13-12-12-x | 10th fret | G, root position | B | all fretted |
| x-x-x-12-12-11 | 11th fret | G, root position | D# | all fretted |
| 15-14-13-12-12-x | 12th fret | G, root position | B | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 46 triad voicings, each on its own page.
What to play over Gaug
Every note of Gaug is in G whole tone and G altered.
Chords near Gaug
Change one note of Gaug and you have G (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth), Gmaj7#5 (add the major seventh), Gaug7 (add the flat seventh), G/B (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth) or G/D (the sharp fifth becomes a fifth).
Gaug is a augmented chord — root, major third, sharp fifth. Augmented chords on every root.
On Gaug’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.