The augmented seventh chord, or seventh augmented fifth chord, or seventh sharp five chord is a

seventh chord A seventh chord is a chord (music), chord consisting of a triad (music), triad plus a note forming an interval (music), interval of a Interval (music), seventh above the chord's root (chord), root. When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" ...

composed of a

root In vascular plants, the roots are the plant organ, organs of a plant that are modified to provide anchorage for the plant and take in water and nutrients into the plant body, which allows plants to grow taller and faster. They are most often bel ...

major third In music theory, a third is a Interval (music), musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number, Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four Semitone, half steps or two ...

augmented fifth In Western classical music, an augmented fifth () is an interval produced by widening a perfect fifth by a chromatic semitone.Benward & Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.54. . For instance, the interval from C to G i ...

, and

minor seventh In music theory, a minor seventh is one of two musical intervals that span seven staff positions. It is ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two sevenths, spanning ten semitones. The major seventh spans eleven. For example, the interval ...

(1, 3, 5, 7).Garner, Robert (2007). ''Mel Bay Presents Essential Music Theory for Electric Bass'', p. 69. . It can be viewed as an

augmented triad An augmented triad is a chord, made up of two major thirds (an augmented fifth). The term ''augmented triad'' arises from an augmented triad being considered a major chord whose top note (fifth) is raised. When using popular-music symbols, i ...

with a minor seventh. When using popular-music symbols, it is denoted by +⁷, aug⁷, or ⁷⁵. For example, the augmented seventh chord built on A, written as A+⁷, has pitches A-C-E-G: : The chord can be represented by the integer notation .

Use

The root is the only optional note in an augmented seventh chord, the fifth being required because it is raised. This alteration is useful in the major mode because the raised 5th creates a

leading tone In music theory, a leading tone (also called subsemitone or leading note in the UK) is a musical note, note or pitch (music), pitch which resolution (music), resolves or "leads" to a note one semitone higher or lower, being a lower and upper lea ...

to the 3rd of the tonic triad. See also dominant. In rock parlance, the term ''augmented seventh chord'' is sometimes confusingly and erroneously used to refer to the so-called " Hendrix chord", a 79 chord which contains the interval of an augmented

ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

but not an augmented fifth. The augmented minor seventh chord may be considered an altered

dominant seventh Domination or dominant may refer to: Society * World domination, structure where one dominant power governs the planet * Colonialism in which one group (usually a nation) invades another region for material gain or to eliminate competition * Ch ...

and may use the whole tone scale, as may the dominant seventh flat five chord. See

chord-scale system The chord-scale system is a method of matching, from a list of possible chord (music), chords, a list of possible scale (music), scales.Mervyn Cooke, David Horn (2003). ''Cambridge Companions to Music, The Cambridge Companion to Jazz'', p.266. . ...

. The augmented seventh chord normally acts as a dominant, resolving to the chord a fifth below.Bay, William (1994). ''Mel Bay Complete Jazz Sax Book'', p. 64. . Thus, G aug⁷ resolves to a C major or minor chord, for example. : Overall, however, the augmented seventh chord is infrequently used, often with the raised fifth degree being the result of a chromatic passing tone.

Augmented seventh chord table

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Augmented Seventh Chord Seventh chords