Are you feeling like you need a pick-me-up? Feeling down in the dumps with the thought that there’s just no more mystery to life? Where has the wonderment gone, you ask? Well, hello augmented chords!

Augmented triads are often heard in the harmonic vocabulary of impressionist composers and sci-fi film composers. I can’t tell you how many outer space themed movies use this chord to create a sense of mystery and wonderment.

These triads are constructed on the third degree of a harmonic minor scale, using the third, fifth and raised seventh notes of the scale. However, you do not have to be in a minor key in order to incorporate these awe-inspiring chords. Simply raising the top note of a root position major triad by a semitone can form them.

Here are notated augmented triads that are formed from three minor scales. Each chord shows the key signature of the minor scale that it originates from, along with suggested piano fingerings.

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