RISE UP
IN THIS FOURTH and final installment on the augmented chord, I’d like to point out some musically effective and appealing ways in which songwriters have used it to create ascending harmonic motion and a compelling, dramatic sound within a pedal-point progression, wherein the bass line stays rooted on the same note as other chord tones shift above it.
“The Greatest Love of All,” first recorded and popularized by George Benson back in verse b aug - (at E b 6 0: - 25 E ) b 7 the , then chord A b - changes A b aug - A go b 6 - A aug. Using capo 1 for ease of fingering, outlines the voicings, played as if we’re in the more convenient key of D. Notice the hauntingly beautiful effect created by the ascending chromatic climb up the 3rd string throughout the first four chords, especially on the restless Daug. A similarly goosebump-inducing move occurs with the following four chords, this time with the chromatic rise happening on the 4th string, with an open G major chord moving to Gaug then G6. But then the movement reverses direction and goes back down to Gaug instead of continuing up to the expected G7.
