We are concerned with the augmented intervals for this article. Major intervals are long and minor intervals are short. Lesson 4.9 - Intervals (Augmented and Diminished) In Lesson 3.7 you learned the prefixes major, minor and perfect as applied to intervals. The term Perfect applies to the Unison (1st), the 4th, the 5th and the Octave (8th). Also, I’m only referencing of scales or modes that build augmented triads and augmented 7th chords. There are generally just two scales that are considered augmented scales. The note C# (or Db), in this case, is the minor second degree. You will also see maj9#11 & maj13#11. Is the interval harmonic or melodic? However, there are augmented modes in both the harmonic and melodic minor scales. The type of interval (the interval quality) 3. I prefer the 7♭5♭13 chord name. When it comes to playing lead over augmented chords, then there may be some scales or modes above that you can add to your toolbox. For example: if you see only Cm6 in a chord notation, you will probably form the C minor chord and take the nearest sixth degree to form Cm6. Baug has a D#, not an E♭. The name of the scale is based on the fact that it is built upon two augmented chords. It will no longer be necessary to link to a scale, as we will specify each degree separately. When you search for information about the blues scale on the internet, you end up finding more information (good and bad) than you would ever know what to do with. All PayPal contributions are greatly appreciated! The 11th degree is the same as the 4th degree. 2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths are major if they occur in the major scale of the lower note. Major or minor intervals may change with each scale step (12345678). Here are 2 A♭maj7#5 guitar chords: The scale formula for the whole tone scale is in the name. G9#5 > B♭, C, E♭, Em, and F#m. Check out the Augmented Music page on Wikipedia for more on augmented sounds in music. Donations will allow me to pay my bills and provide you with great content. Chord equivalent: equals an aug triad on each chord tone, Caug = Eaug = G#aug It is a 6-note scale where each note is separated by a whole tone. All open chords for every chord type in every key. I guess this can be a good thing… G+ > C, maj7#5: root, major 3rd, augmented 5th, major 7th = 1-M3-A5-M7 = 1-3-#5-7 If you read the article about degrees, you noticed that we only mentioned 7 notes of Western music (C, D, E, F, G, A, B). Minor intervals are exactly a half-step lower than major intervals. E Phrygian Dominant = E-F-G#-A-B-C-D = 1-m2-M3-P4-P5-m6-m7 = 1-♭9-3-11-5-#5/♭13-♭7. You also have the #11 but a Cmaj7#5#11 isn’t really a chord since it equals a G#7alt chord (see below). C to D# is an augmented 2nd (A2 or #9) This nomenclature (“major” and “minor”) exists to indicate whether the interval (distance between notes) is short or long. The Augmented Chord Before we dive into the augmented scale let’s have a brief review of the augmented chord. 7#11: a dominant 7th chord with an augmented 4th interval added. Any of those chords resolve nicely to A or Am. There are generally just two scales that are considered augmented scales. Every scale degree builds the same chord types. This is technically the only augmented mode from the harmonic minor scale. The names “minor second degree” and “major second degree” are generally abbreviated to “major second” and “minor second“, and the same applies to the other major and minor degrees. They are the whole tone scale and the augmented scale. Most of these chords rarely last longer than 1 measure, so I would just use an arpeggio lick. You will also see 13#9. But couldn’t we just use the names “major” and “minor” for all the notes instead of using “diminished”, “augmented” and “perfect”? I’ll use A melodic minor again as the example: C Lydian Augmented = C-D-E-F#-G#-A-B = 1-M2-M2-A4-A5-M6-M7 = 1-9-3-#11-#5-6-7. Major intervals are from the major scale. I cover all that and how to use the chords. Jazz guys prefer that chord though as a substitute for a maj7 chord. So for G7#5#9 the resolution or tendency to A, C# and D major are weak at best. “Perfect” is in the middle between these two. As for all the dominant 7th’s with a #5, #9 or #11, they work really good as V7 chords. 7#9: a dominant 7th chord an augmented 2nd interval added. Keep that in mind. There are 5 or 6 chords that are based on the augmented triad. The maj7#11 chord is a Lydian chord and is a great chord, so use it as a IV chord or as a substitute for a maj7 on the tonic (I) chord. Therefore, it was necessary to say that the degrees would be according to the format of the major scale. For this, there is a more comprehensive definition, as we will see now: The first note is represented by the first degree, as we have already seen. Maj7#11: a maj7 chord with the augmented 4th interval. Chord equivalent: equals a 9♭5 on the ♭7 and a 7♭5♭13 (7#5#11) on the M3, C9#5 = Bb7♭5 = E7♭5♭13 (or E7#5#11 if you like) I personally don’t use this name. Some websites will notate the last note as A# but I think it is better as B♭. The larger the interval between two notes, then the greater the difference in pitch between the notes. The most common augmented intervals are the 4th and 5th. The distance of the interval 2. As a result, you can build the following augmented chords: E+, E7#5, and E7#5♭9. When you lower a perfect interval by a half step it becomes diminished. Note that, in the previous example, the “major second degree” represented the interval of a whole tone (because D is two semitones above C), and the “minor second degree” represented the interval of a semitone (D flat is a semitone above C). Other dominant 7th chords with augmented intervals are 7♭9#11, 7#9#11 and maybe 7#9♭13. Otherwise, you will not understand a lot of what I am covering. In total, there are 12 semitones in an octave scale, and each one impacts the interval quality. The only augmented chord possible from this mode is the G#aug triad.