CHORD REFERENCE

C Augmented

C – E – G♯1 3 #5

The C Augmented chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
C1E3G♯#5

Caug is C, E, G# — the 1, 3 and #5 above the root C.

Piano
CEG♯
Guitar

Ways to play it

E-shape (open strings)

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEG♯CEBCEG♯GG♯CEDEG♯CACEG♯EEG♯CE

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

Movable shape
GCEA
357912ACEG♯EEG♯CECCEG♯CGG♯CE

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only C, E, G# plays the chord.

In which keys

Caug is a colour chord — it is not diatonic to a plain major or minor key, which is what gives it its character. It shows up as a borrowed chord, an altered dominant, or a passing sound.

Other C chords

Triads

CMajorCmMinorC5Power Chord (5)CdimDiminishedCsus2Suspended 2ndCsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

C6Major 6thCm6Minor 6thC7Dominant 7thCmaj7Major 7thCm7Minor 7thCm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thCdim7Diminished 7thCm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)C7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

C7♭57♭5C7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)C7♭97♭9C7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Cadd9Added 9thC6/96/9C9Dominant 9thCmaj9Major 9thCm9Minor 9thC11Dominant 11thC13Dominant 13th
Augmented on another root
CD♭DE♭EFG♭GA♭AB♭B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.