Faug guitar chord — root mapping, fingerings, arpeggios, triads, pentatonic, scales

Ionian Augmented is a major scale with a raised 5th. Its formula matches the third mode of harmonic minor: the major 3rd and major 7th retain a clear major outline, while #5 removes the normal stability of the tonic chord and turns it into maj7#5. The scale is used over augmented-major chords and in jazz or film writing that calls for a bright but distinctly unusual major sound.

Ionian Augmented is the third mode of the harmonic minor scale. It differs from ordinary Ionian by one degree: the perfect 5th is raised to #5. The major 3rd preserves the mode’s major quality, but the augmented 5th turns the tonic triad into an augmented chord and the tonic seventh chord into maj7#5. The scale contains an augmented 2nd between 4 and #5, followed by a semitone between #5 and 6. Because it has no perfect 5th, its tonic sonority is less stable than an ordinary major triad. Its defining degree is #5.

1 — tonic: the modal center and the root of the augmented I triad and Imaj7#5 seventh chord.

2 — major 2nd / 9th: the root of the minor ii chord; over the tonic chord it can function as a 9.

3 — major 3rd: establishes the mode’s major quality and belongs to both I+ and Imaj7#5.

4 — perfect 4th / 11th: the root of the major IV chord; it forms an augmented 2nd with #5 and a semitone clash with the major 3rd.

#5 — augmented 5th: the defining degree of the mode. It replaces the ordinary perfect 5th, belongs to the augmented tonic chord, and serves as the root of the diminished chord built on the raised 5th degree.

6 — major 6th / 13th: lies a semitone above #5, serves as the root of the minor vi chord, and is also the tonic of the relative harmonic minor scale.

7 — major 7th / leading tone: belongs to Imaj7#5, lies a semitone below the tonic, and tends to resolve upward to 1.

Harmonizing the scale in triads produces:

I+ — augmented; ii — minor; III — major; IV — major; #v° — diminished; vi — minor; vii° — diminished.

The diatonic seventh chords are Imaj7#5, ii7, III7, IVmaj7, #v°7, vi(maj7), and viiø7.

Unlike the ordinary major scale, Ionian Augmented has no major V chord built on a perfect 5th because the natural 5 is absent. Instead, the scale contains #5, which supports a diminished seventh chord. The III chord is a dominant seventh chord and naturally resolves to vi, the tonic of the relative harmonic minor scale.

In C Ionian Augmented, the triads are Caug Dm E F G#dim Am Bdim; the seventh chords are Cmaj7#5 Dm7 E7 Fmaj7 G#dim7 Am(maj7) Bm7b5.

The mode is used primarily over augmented major seventh chords, maj7#5, because its degrees 1 3 #5 7 exactly match the notes of that chord. It can also be used over an augmented triad when the surrounding harmony supports the natural 2, 4, 6, and 7. The mode appears in harmony and melodic material derived from harmonic minor: for example, C Ionian Augmented contains the same notes as A harmonic minor. It is not a general substitute for the major scale over every major chord, since its raised 5th conflicts with a chord containing a natural 5. Because the perfect 5th is absent, the mode is more commonly used as a specific color over maj7#5 than as the basis of conventional functional major-key harmony.

Ionian Augmented is the third mode of harmonic minor. Its relative harmonic minor begins on the mode’s 6th degree: C Ionian Augmented and A harmonic minor contain the same notes, C D E F G# A B. The other modes of the same parent scale are Harmonic Minor, Locrian ♮6, Dorian #4, Phrygian Dominant, Lydian #2, and Ultralocrian.

Its closest parallel mode is ordinary Ionian, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, which differs only by having a perfect 5th instead of #5. Lydian Augmented has the formula 1 2 3 #4 #5 6 7 and differs only by its raised 4th. Ionian Augmented should also not be confused with Ionian b6, or harmonic major: that scale contains a natural 5 and b6, rather than #5 and a natural 6.

Over maj7#5, begin with the chord tones 1 3 #5 7, especially #5: without it, the line can easily sound like ordinary major. Degree 2 can be used as the 9th. The natural 4 and 6 require careful handling: 4 lies a semitone above the major 3rd, while 6 lies a semitone above #5, so sustaining either note can obscure or weaken the identity of the maj7#5 chord. They work well as passing or neighboring tones that return to 3, #5, or 7.

To emphasize the scale’s structure, use the augmented-2nd motion 4–#5, the semitone motion 6–#5, and the leading-tone resolution 7–1. When the harmony moves through chords of the relative harmonic minor, target the notes of each current chord rather than treating the Ionian Augmented 1 as the center of the entire progression.

Ionian Augmented is a major mode with a raised 5th and the third mode of harmonic minor. Its tonic foundation is an augmented triad or maj7#5 chord, and its defining sound is #5. The major 3rd and major 7th preserve a major framework, but the missing perfect 5th and the augmented 2nd between 4 and #5 separate it from ordinary Ionian. It is a specialized mode for augmented major harmony rather than a standard major scale.