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Augmented 7th Chords on Piano

The augmented 7th chord combines an augmented triad with a minor seventh — creating a tense, colourful dominant chord with a raised fifth that pushes toward resolution. It is a staple of jazz altered dominants and whole-tone harmony.

Formula: Root – Major 3rd – Augmented 5th – Minor 7th
Intervals: 4 + 4 + 2 semitones
Scale degrees: 1–3–♯5–♭7
Sound: Tense, colourful, exotic, forward-moving
Symbol: 7♯5, aug7, +7 (C7♯5, Caug7)

Augmented 7th vs Dominant 7th: The only difference is the fifth — aug7 raises it by a semitone. This small change adds exotic tension that naturally resolves upward to the root of the target chord. The whole-tone scale is the matching scale for augmented 7th chords.

Augmented 7th Chord in All 18 Keys