Augmented and Diminish

Rick Nicklas · From: Verona, Mo. (deceased)

Can you guys give me some ideas or the rule of thumb "when to use an augmented chord" and "when to use and diminish chord".?

This has always been a mystery to me and I would appreciate some of your input in a easy to understand language if possible.

John Roche · From: England

Rick,
you use the diminished chords mainly as passing chords, linking together progressions in a chromatic way. This is also true of the Augmented chord, although in reverse. As a rule, if you are ascending in a chord change, use a diminished passing chord. If you are descending, use an augmented.

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

take a dominant 7 w: 1357 (root, third, fifth & flatted or minor 7)& raise the root or 1 a half step & you'll have a diminished chord
symbol : C°

take a dominant 7 w: 1357, raise the 5, 1 half step & you got an augmented chord
symbol : C+

edited :

in my haste to post i did make a mistake
this is what i meant:
raise the tonic or root of a dominant 7 & you get a diminished chord

once you have a diminished chord, lower any one of the 4 notes & you'll get a dominant 7 chord

Rick Nicklas · From: Verona, Mo. (deceased)

Thank you fellows.... The fog is starting to lift a little... Smile

Lee Baucum · From: McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier

You can use the augmented chord to move from a 1 chord to a 4 chord: G > Gaug > C

Bo Borland · From: South Jersey -

sounds demented to me
try a 1 1dim 2minor 5 .. maybe you'll hear a little of what your looking for.
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Larry Lorows · From: Zephyrhills,Florida, USA

Hi Bo, I would play a 1 1#dim 2m7 to a 5 chord. I like to use a diminished chord when the music calls for a flat 9 chord. For example,for a Gb9 chord, I could use a Abdim. which gives it a different flavor. I've had guitar players who didn't know what I was doing, say "Boy that's nice." Try it, you'll like it. Larry
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Jerry H. Moore · From: Newnan, GA, USA

I remember asking a fellow musician this question and the response was: Augmented adds and Diminished takes away. It didn't make sense till I played one in a progression. Like...Gmajor then G augmented then the C for example. Same with a diminished progression. Pretty cool chords. I mostly play by ear so I don't really understand how they are made...just when. I call the aggravated and demented chords.

basilh · From: United Kingdom

Rule of thumb, diminished repeats every THREE frets,
Augmented every FOUR.

ANY note can be used for its name,
i.e. Gdim = Bbdim = Dbdim =Edim
or for the Augmented, E+ = G#+ = C+

A wholetone run works well over an augmented (Ask Stevie Wonder- The Sunshine of my Life) whilst a diminished has many ways of improvising around.

A diminished run over the dominant seventh chord of a tune that's in a minor key is KOOL !

An augmented substitutes for the Min/Maj7 chord :-
i.e. Am, AmMaj7, Am7 can be played Am, E+/G#, Am7/G. (As in Little green Apples)

Jon Bergh · From: St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Rich Sullivan · From: Nelson, NH 03457

Crowbear had the right idea, but went backwards. Start with the Dim7 chord, and then flat any one of the notes a half-step. This always yields a Dom7 chord. Here is an example, starting with C#dim7

C# E G Bb becomes C E G Bb (which is C7)
C# E G Bb becomes C# Eb G Bb (spelled enharmonically as Eb G Bb Db is Eb7)
C# E G Bb becomes C# E Gb Bb (spelled enharmonically as F# A# C# E is F#7)
C# E G Bb becomes C# E G Bbb (spelled enharmonically as A C# E G is A7)

I don't seem to take advantage of this concept much on non-pedal steel. But it is a useful tool for finding new dominant seventh chordforms on a fretted instrument. Find a dim7 chord on the guitar (mando, banjo, etc.) and slide one finger down a fret and you have a Dominant 7 chord. Of course, if the note you move is doubled in the chord, you have to move both of them. I think this would be useful on pedal steel also, using pedals or knee levers, but since I don't play pedals, maybe someone else can respond to this.

James Kent · From: Lakeland, Florida, USA

Chords and how to use them! Ted Greene's books really helped me. He was not a pedal steeler but he was a wonder; A great teacher and gifted player.

CrowBear Schmitt · From: Ariege, - PairO'knees, - France

my mistake guys
i should have written :
lower any tone 1 half step on a demented chord & you get a dom7
an easy way to get a demented is to raise 1 half step the root or tonic of a dom7

basilh · From: United Kingdom

Is it the thin air in the Pyrenees or some other reason that has you 'Demented" ?
I do believe you have a lot of NATURAL reverb in them there caves. !! Any good on the Steel Guitar ?
Another silly question for you :-
Does the high altitude and less dense air offer lower resistance to the strings and give you more sustain ?

Steve Geis · From: Fayetteville, GA USA

C - C Aug - F: There is a 1/2 step melodic movement keeping the following notes on top of your chords: G,, G#, A (C chord at the 3rd frt, A&B down, with 4th string on top=G note, raise the 4th 1/2 step w/KL for C Aug=G# note, then play F chord at the 1st frt, no pedals, w/3rd string on top=A note.)

C - C# Dim - G: There is a 1/2 step melodic movement which are notes: C, C#, D (C chord 8th frt no pedals, 4th string on top=C note, then same but raise 4th string 1/2 step w/KL for C# Dim chord=C# note on top, then G chord 10th frt with A&B down, and the top/4th sting=D note.)

In either exercise, play the first two chords as 1/2 note value (2 beats each) and resolve to the last chord as a whole note value (4 beats).

Steve Geis · From: Fayetteville, GA USA

Here is one more thought about diminished chords. And I should probably be shot for even saying this, but: If you chord chart calls for a C# Diminished, think C Major and sharp the C note/root! If it says G# diminshed, think G Major & sharp the G note/root. Before I get beat up here on the Forum, and rightly so, this works mechanicly, BUT NOT IN THEORY. In music theory, a dimished chord is created by flatting the 3rd & 5th a half step,..NOT BY SHARPING THE ROOT. This mechanical logic for diminished chords just happens to work well on steel since we can easily raise the root a 1/2 stop in an open frt. But again, in THEORY we are flatting the 3rd & 5th. FORUMITES: pls be gentle with me; I know the errors of my ways.

Rick Nicklas · From: Verona, Mo. (deceased)

Thank you everyone that posted your views and knowledge..... And Steve I don't care if anyone criticizes you. Your explanation is exactly what I needed to make sense to me. It kind of brought all the posts above into a more understandable form. I need to take baby steps with this new venture. Thank you so much.

Mark Kelchen · From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa USA

After trying all of this I Bflat exhausted...........

basilh · From: United Kingdom

Hi Nick, I didn't think that this was NOT in an "Understandable Form" PLEASE elaborate, to help me with my own personal communication skills..

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