If you’ve been following my mini-series on different chords, you should now be a master of the major, the minor, the seventh, the minor seventh, the major seventh, and sus2, as well as sus4 chords.
So, let’s move on to Diminished and Augmented chords to spice up your chord vocabulary, making it even more interesting and varied. As always, we’ll start with the basics…
What is a Diminished Chord?
As you are probably aware, a basic triad consists of three notes, the first, third, and fifth degree of the major scale for a major triad, and the first, flattened third, and fifth degree of the major scale for a minor triad.
For a C, the notes would be:
Major Minor
C - E - G C - Eb - G
A diminished chord (dim) is based on a minor chord and contains the minor (or flattened) third. But the fifth - G - is diminished (flattened), making it a Gb.
Therefore, a C Diminished (Cdim) contains the notes:
C - Eb - Gb
I - b3 - b5
In its root position, it looks like this:
Root - C note - G string - 5th fret
Flattening the fifth (making it diminished) within the minor chord changes it from being sad and soulful sounding to a chord with a strong sense of tension and dissonance. This makes diminished chords sound unstable and unresolved.
That’s why diminished chords are often used to create a sense of suspense or as a gateway to stronger, more stable, consonant chords, making them very common in jazz and baroque music.
Where can you play Diminished Chords?
Unlike a number of chord shapes which can be learnt using the excellent CAGED system, unfortunately, diminished chords don’t quite comply, so you’ll have to learn the shapes in isolation.
As well as the root position already covered, you can play a C diminished in any of the following ways. As you can see, there are no ‘barres’ across the neck, but they are all in fact ‘barre’ chords. For example, you can play a C#dim by moving any of them up one fret, or a Bdim by moving any of them back a fret:
What famous songs contain diminished chords?
Before we get to more modern examples, let’s start with one of the world's most famous pieces of music, which is a masterclass in the use of diminished chords…
Moonlight Sonata (1st Movement) — Ludwig van Beethoven
Moonlight Sonata’s first movement features both Cdim and C#dim chords that Beethoven uses to enhance the haunting and mysterious quality of one of classical music’s most loved pieces.
This Love — Maroon 5
Diminished chords are rarely found in pop songs, but this worldwide megahit has somewhat of a jazz influence, allowing the diminished chord to fit in perfectly. The band also add a 7th to the chord, making it a Bdim7, for added flavour.
The song is in the key of Cm and is played with a capo on the third fret. The chords for the intro (x2) and the verse are:
E7/G# - Am - Dm - Bdim7
This chord progression is repeated twice before moving to the much more joyful-sounding chorus:
Am - Dm - G7 - C
Am - Dm - G7 - C
Am - Dm - G7 - C
Am - D - F - E
Then it's back to the intro two more times, before returning to the second verse where the diminished chord works well with the darker lyrics.
More Songs with Diminished Chords
All I Want for Christmas - Mariah Carey
Michelle and Blue Jay Way - The Beatles
Every Time You Go Away - Paul Young
I've Got Friends in Low Places - Garth Brooks
SOS - Abba
My Sweet Lord - George Harrison
Let’s now move on to…
What is an Augmented Chord?
As I’ve just mentioned, a triad consists of three notes, the first, third, and fifth degree of the major scale for the major, and the first, flattened third, and fifth degree of the major scale for the minor.
As you know, for a C chord, the notes would be:
Unlike a diminished chord, an Augmented (aug) Chord is based on a major chord; therefore, as you would expect, it contains the major third - E. But this time, the fifth - G - is augmented (sharpened), making it a G#.
Therefore, a C Augmented (Caug or C+) contains the notes:
C - E - G#
I - 3 - #5
There are two ways to play it in its root position, these are:
Sharpening the fifth (making it augmented) results in a chord that, as with the diminished, sounds slightly dissonant and unstable, and is great for creating a sense of tension, drama, or surprise.
Even though both diminished and augmented chords sound dissonant and unstable, diminished chords (being more ‘minor’) have a much darker and eerier quality than augmented chords, making them a great choice for darker genres of music.
Where can you play Augmented Chords?
Augmented chords are thankfully a lot more accommodating than diminished chords, and the CAGED system can be used, making them easier to remember and move between.
As well as the two root positions we’ve already looked at, there are quite a few more ways of playing augmented chords. They are all barre chords, so as with the diminished chords we covered earlier, you can move any of them up a fret to produce a C#aug (C#+) or down a fret to get a Baug (B+):
Famous songs that contain augmented chords?
As with diminished chords, augmented chords are rarely used at the start of a chord progression. However, you'll find them buried deep in a progression more often than you might think, especially near the end, where they are perfect for adding or extending tension.
It's My Party and I'll Cry if I want to — Lesley Gore
An unusual choice, I admit, but the song is one of the best out there to hear what augmenting a chord does to it. The chorus starts with an A chord, which then becomes an A+ for the second bar, as the word ‘cry’ is sung. It then moves to a D chord for the start of the third bar, which becomes a Dm for the ‘cry’ at the beginning of the fourth bar.
A - A+ - D - Dm
It then moves to two chords per bar until the end of the chorus, as shown below:
A F#m - Bm E - A D - A E
For reference, here’s the verse, but it doesn’t contain any augmented chords:
A - C - A - D
F - A - B7 - E
Crying — Roy Orbison
Another excellent example that shows the change from a major chord to an augmented chord, this time it’s a D to a D+.
The verse starts with a D chord, which is played for quite a while before moving to a D augmented on the word ‘hand’, before finishing the verse with a G, Gm, D, and an A7.
The chorus also features a Daug, but before that, you’ll need to go through D, F#m, D, F#m, G, A, G, A, then end with the final chord progression of the chorus - D, D+, G, Gm.
The YouTube video below shows the chord changes as they occur in the song, making it easy to hear the effect the augmented chord has on the progressions.
More Songs with Augmented Chords
Oh Darling - The Beatles
The James Bond Theme
Super Mario World's end credits
Break Free - Ariana Grande feat. Zedd
Generator - Foo Fighters
Wrapping it Up
That’s it for my in-depth look at the best songs to learn diminished and augmented chords.
They are both great chord types with their own unique sound, so try adding them to your own chord progressions and songs to create something very special.
