Augmented Chord
From “Minor Scale Variations” in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers
You can think of the augmented chord as a sibling of the diminished chord. Whereas the diminished chord is a sort of “super minor” chord, the augmented chord is a sort of “super major” chord.
When it comes to the diminished chord, what is meant by calling it “super minor” is its being constituted by two minor thirds. That is (Allen 2018, 136):
From “Minor Scale Variations” in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers
A diminished chord breaks the rule by having a minor third on the bottom and the top, and no major third.
Which is to say the intervals for both “thirds,” or both gaps in the triad, are minor thirds. To the contrary, “an augmented triad […],” as seen in–for example–the chord progression of the A harmonic minor scale (Ibid):
From “Minor Scale Variations” in Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers
[…] has a major third on the bottom and the top, with no minor third at all.
augmented_chord augmented_triad minor_third major_third diminished_chord diminished_triad
bibliography
- “Minor Scale Variations.” In Music Theory for Electronic Music Producers: The Producer’s Guide to Harmony, Chord Progressions, and Song Structure in the MIDI Grid., 1st ed., 130. Minneapolis, MN: Slam Academy, 2018.