Aaug7

Aaug7 is A, C#, E# and G, a augmented seventh. The shape this page opens on is written x03021, lowest string first.

Note by note. A is the root, C# is the major third, E# is the sharp fifth and G is the flat seventh.

Also written A7#5, A+7 or A7(#5). The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 8 common shapes for Aaug7 on the guitar, and 31 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Aaug7 and you have Amaj7#5 (with one note moved), A7 (with one note moved), A7b5 (with one note moved), Aalt (with one note added), Aaug (with one note taken away) or Aaug9 (with one note added).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x03021, x03223, x05665, 545x6x, 5x566x, x-x-7-10-8-9, x-12-11-12-x-13, x-12-15-12-14-13.

Under the hand. 2 of the 8 shapes here sit in open position, and the first uses 2 open strings with 1 left unplayed. None of them needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.

Where it goes. Aaug7 is a dominant with its tension raised, so it still points at D — harder than a plain seventh does, because the altered tones sit a semitone from where they are going.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Aaug7 has x0566x, x0x021, 5x566x, x-12-x-12-14-13.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Aaug7 has xx3223, 3432xx, x0302x, xx5665, x8768x, x-10-11-10-10-x, 13-12-11-12-x-x, x-x-15-14-14-15.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Aaug7 has x0x021, x4x263, 3x322x, x8x685, 5x566x, 9-x-7-10-8-x, x-10-x-10-10-9, 13-x-11-12-10-x.

Open string. 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. Aaug7 has 34320x, x4300x, x0302x.

Tensions. A shell of Aaug7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the b9 (Bb), the 9 (B), the #9 (B#) and the #11 (D#).

What kind of chord this is. Aaug7 is an altered chord — a dominant seventh with its fifth or ninth moved. altered dominant chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.