How to Build Augmented Chords on Guitar

If you really want to know about what goes into guitar chords, it's essential to do a little "chord building," where you write out the chromatic scale and pick the notes you need to add to your chord. Building augmented chords helps you see how these supplementary chords sound in relation to their more "normal" major chord structures.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Write out your chromatic scale. You'll have seven notes and then the octave. Remember "do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti-do" which is now 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-1. A good example of this is C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C where the key is C and the chromatic scale goes from C to C.

2. Select the notes you would use for a major chord. These notes are the 1, 3 and 5 of the chromatic scale. For our key of C, the notes for C major would be C, E and G.

3. Sharp your fifth to make the chord an augmented chord. Find your fifth, G, and make it a G sharp (G#).

4. Put your chord together by finding these notes on your fret board. If it's easier, you can simply create the C major chord, and then find your finger on the G note, then move it up one fret.

5. Strum the strings and listen for the augmented sound of the chord.

Tips & Warnings

• To get a good feel for how augmented chords are used, play the major chord and the augmented chord back to back until you are comfortable making the switch. You'll hear how the augmented chord creates a sound that is just a little different, for chord transitions or special compositions that use an augmented sound.