Augmented arpeggios are a really useful tool that you can use to jazz up your solos and improvisations. They have a really nice fusion type sound to them and if you use them correctly they will really add interest to your music. This arpeggio is made up from three notes, the root, third and sharp fifth. Jazz and fusion musicians regularly use the augmented sound to play over dominant chords and to create interesting jazz lines in their solos.
The intervals are:
1 3 #5
One interesting trick to note is that you can build other augmented arpeggios off of the three notes. For instance the C augmented arpeggio contains the same notes as the E augmented and G# augmented. To see what I mean, take a look at the examples below.
C augmented arpeggio
C E G#
E augmented arpeggio
E G# C
G# augmented arpeggio
G# C E
You can find three augmented arpeggios within the melodic minor scale. For instance in the C melodic minor scale you will find an Eb, G and B augmented arpeggio.
Below I have written it out in all 12 musical keys to help you out.
C
C E G#
C#
C# F A
D
D F# Bb
Eb
Eb G B
E
E G# C
F
F A C#
F#
F# Bb D
G
G B D#
Ab
Ab C E
A
A C# F
Bb
Bb D F#
B
B D# G
I hope you enjoy learning the strange and wonderful sounds that the augmented arpeggio can produce. Try playing the augmented sound over dominant and dominant 7#5 chords.