Ebaug7

Ebaug7 is Eb, G, B and Db, a augmented seventh. The shape this page opens on is written xx1423, lowest string first.

Note by note. Eb is the root, G is the major third, B is the sharp fifth and Db is the flat seventh.

Also written Eb7#5, Eb+7 or Eb7(#5). The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for Ebaug7 on the guitar, and 28 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Ebaug7 and you have Ebmaj7#5 (with one note moved), Eb7 (with one note moved), Eb7b5 (with one note moved), Ebalt (with one note added), Ebaug (with one note taken away) or Ebaug9 (with one note added).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: xx1423, x656x7, x69687, 11-10-11-0-0-9, 11-10-11-x-12-x, 11-x-11-12-12-x.

Under the hand. 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.

Where it goes. 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.

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. Ebaug7 has x6x687, 11-x-11-12-12-x, x6x027.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Ebaug7 has x2102x, x4544x, 7656xx, xx9889, 9-10-9-8-x-x, x-x-11-12-12-11, x-14-13-12-14-x, xx1423.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Ebaug7 has 3x142x, x4x443, 7x564x, x6x687, x-10-x-8-12-9, 9x988x, x-14-x-12-14-11, 11-x-11-12-12-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. Ebaug7 has x45440, 7x5640, xx5600, x4400x.

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).

What kind of chord this is. Ebaug7 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.