Augmentation

When you write passages of music for film or theater you entitled to compose music that is free from structural demands of composing. You are, however, not free in your composition. You are stringently compelled by the emotional demands of the film's momentary sentiment. You are taking the actions displayed on the screen and representing the emotions that the filmmaker wants the audience to feel. It is in these little spurts of music and sound that you can deploy your most errant chords without concern for how they fit into a song structure. Diminshed chords and augmented chords are ideal for creating reactions of tension.

When you are composing a more structured piece of free standing music, or a more sweeping cinematic theme, you are once again bound by the traditional musical structure. It has to sound good.

I've written earlier about discovering ways to use diminished chords. Today I was searching for ways to use augmented chords to good effect. The gaps betwen the notes of a normal chord are either: skip 3 then skip 2 for a major chord or skip 2 then skip 3 for a minor chord. An augmented chord skips 3 then skips another 3 for its last note. An E augmented chord is thus comprised of e ab and c. Here's the way I discovered to use such a chord.

In a minor key, an augmented V chord can lead to the root chord with a little more mystery and color than a traditional V chord. So in the key of Am, an E aug. begs to resolve back down to the Am. It adds such coloration though that it seems better to visit the E aug early in a progression rather than to save it for just the ending. A progression exemplifying this usage is in the accompanying music file.

Augmented E

Here, the chord progression is Am Eaug Abdim Am Dm Eaug Am Am.
The music file has the pogression played once as simple chords and a second time more melodically arpegiated.

Someday, perhaps, I'll figure out useful ways to use augmented chords for Major keys. Meanwhile, I'll keep experimenting and applying my discoveries into music.