Category: Augmented

Categories
Arpeggios Augmented Chords Intervals Inversions Symmetrical Scales Triads

The Augmented Scale

The augmented scale is a symmetrical hexatonic scale.

It appears in music by composers as varied as Franz Liszt, Alberto Ginastera, Béla Bartók, Milton Babbitt, Arnold Schoenberg, John Coltrane, Oliver Nelson, and Michael Brecker.

There are various ways to derive the augmented scale:

  • start with an augmented triad and add a 1/2 below each tone
  • alternate minor thirds with 1/2 steps
  • combine two augmented triads an augmented second (or minor third) apart: C E G♯ and E♭ G B

Below are fretboard diagrams for the augmented scale, starting on the root C, then moving through the cycle of fourths through all 12 keys.

Try improvising melodic lines, diads, and triads, exploring the symmetries that this unique scale creates.

Root “C”:

Root “F”:

Root “B♭” or “A#”:

Root “E♭” or “D#”:

Root “A♭” or “G#”:

Root “D♭” or “C#”:

Root “G♭” or “F#”:

Root “B”:

Root “E”:

Root “A”:

Root “D”:

Root “G”: