How to play C augmented mandolin chords

Overview

There are many positions (ways, variants etc.) to play the C augmented mandolin chord. In this article you can find the most common chord positions – displayed on the slideshow above, fingered for your convenience. To help you understand how to play them, I have included step-by-step instructions, describing where to place each finger and what note this will produce. Finally, the article includes a chord chart with all possible chord positions for future reference, feel free to print it.

What is a C augmented (Caug) chord?

The Caug is a triad chord, i.e. it consists of three notes as following:

The root, which for the Caug chord is of course C
The third, which for the Caug chord is E. Note that this creates a major third interval that consists of four half steps (C to Db, Db to D, D to Eb, Eb to E)
The fifth, which for the Caug chord is G#. Note again that this creates an another major third interval that consists of three half steps (E to F, F to F#, F# to G, G to G#). The chord is called augmented because the interval between the root (C) and the fifth is an augmented one, i.e. consists of eight half steps!

Note that half steps correspond to one fret difference between notes played on the same string.

See how the Cdim chord is written on sheet paper:

If you want to understand more on chords theory, i.e. how they are constructed, check out the following popular article I have written some time ago: Understanding Chords Theory.

If you need a blank sheet paper to write it down in order to understand it, you can download one from theMandolinTuner free blank music paper sheet.

Three finger, Caug fingered for mandolin, 1st position

This is how you place your left hand on the fretboard:

First finger on 1st fret of fourth string.
Second finger on 2nd fret of third string.
Third finger on 3rd fret of second string.
No finger on first string.

Note that as the bass note is G#(the fifth) and not C (the root), we call this chord Caug/G#, i.e. the second inversion of C aug.

Four Finger Caug, fingered for mandolin, 2nd position

This is how you place your left hand on the fretboard:

First finger on 2nd fret of third string.
Second finger on 3rd fret of second string.
Third finger on 4th fret of first string.
Fourth finger on 5th fret of second string.

Four finger Caug, fingered for mandolin, 3rd position

This is how you place your left hand on the fretboard:

First finger on 4th fret of first string.
Second finger on 5th fret of fourth string.
Third finger on 6th fret of third string.
Fourth finger on 7th fret of second string.

Note that as the bass note is G#(the fifth) and not C (the root), we call this chord Caug/G#, i.e. the second inversion of C aug.

C augmented, All Mandolin Chord Variants

As with all chords, there are many variants of the Caug chord for the mandolin. So, if you want to explore more, see below a Chord Sheet that presents all variants for you to practice.

How to Practice chords on the mandolin

There are many good articles here at theMandolinTuner for practicing chords. I suggest you start with:

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Ok, it is now time to practice. Grab your mandolin and try to play these chord variants now, it is easy, just follow the instructions!

Resources

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