Augmented Chords And Diminished Chords on Guitar

Diminished and augmented chords are often used as passing chords in music. These chords are often followed up by a major or minor chord to resolve their tensive effects and usually used sparingly in music.

One of the main applications of these chords are in jazz music. So, if you are into jazz, pay attention now.

Diminished Chords on Guitar

Diminished chords are often denoted by a "o", "-" or "dim". To explain the diminished chord in layman’s term, a diminished triad is simply a minor guitar chord with a flatted fifth.

E.g. C minor has the notes C Eb G. The C diminished has the notes C Eb Gb.

The diminished chord is rarely used as a triad form in music. A more commonly used diminished chord is the diminished seventh: C Eb Gb A. If you had noticed, the spacing between the notes are all a minor 3rd. This creates a very dissonant sound to the ears. Hence, it is not wise to stay on a diminished chord for too long. Some particular uses of the diminished chord is that it is used as a transitional chord for changing between keys in songs.

Let me show you an example of how to apply diminished chords in key changes. Each note in the diminished 7th chord can be used as a leading note to the key change. For example, the notes of the Cdim7 chord can be broken up as follows:

Using the Cdim7 chord as a passing chord, you can change keys into Db or E or G or Bb.

Augmented Chords on Guitar

Augmented chords are often denoted by a "+" or "aug". To explain the augmented chord in layman’s term, an augmented triad is simply a major chord with a sharped fifth.

E.g. C major has the notes C E G. The C augmented has the notes C E G#.

Similarly to the diminished chord, the augmented chord is very tense sounding and is used as a passing chord. One guideline for using augmented chords is that it should never be played for longer than a beat.

Another handy tip is that augmented chords are usually used to link major and minor chord or a major and major 6th chord. Basically, augmented chords are found in jazz music most of the times. You have really got to trust your ears on what sounds right when using augmented chords.

Whew, that was a pretty tough guitar lesson I guess. I hoped that I had cleared some of the questions that were posted to me via email regarding augmented/diminished chords. : )

p.s: We have arranged a special deal for our site's visitors. Get an exclusive Jamplay coupon code here...