[RICH.J]

I was just wondering, are there certain points in normal harmony, that Augmented chords usually appear, like the VII being diminished in Major, or ii in Minor, for example?

I've never seen anything in any of my books regarding Augmented chords much.

Can anyone shed any light on the subject for me please?

[dogpoo]

if you're taking a normal key, and going up the scale in chords, you will get dim 7ths in major keys and dim 2nds in minor keys. you will not get augmented chords. however, you do get things like dominant minors which are modified forms of these chords. augmented chords are just another form of modified chords - extended interval.

[dadfad]

I don't think there's really a specific place where you'd use them. I think it's just a subtle voicing modification that you'd use to color your chord the way you want it. I have noticed a tendency to use augs in several positions within the same tune and sometimes used as a sort of transitional chord that sort of "asks for" a change to the next position or chord-change. A (very subtle) need to be resolved.

[pauliejay]

They can be effective when returning to the tonic from the fifth when you're playing in a minor key.

As an example, cycle through this progression a few times


Am - F - E - E+

where E+ is

-x-
-1-
-1-
-2-
-3-
-x-

Of course, you can include the open E strings if you wish, but I think the "choked" version of the E+ chord opens up more melodic possibilities.

[RICH.J]

Bloody computer modem has decided to stop working for some reason. Are PC's good for anything? Oh yeah, getting guitar help from the internet!

Right, I know what you mean, I've been messing around with the usual D shape and moving the fifth up a semi tone, to mine mind aug chords tend to be quite atmospheric, if you know what I mean. They just got me thinking a little bit about where they might fit.

Thanks for the replies.