Ukulele · augmented
Caug Chord on Ukulele
C Augmented is C, E, G# — the 1-3-#5 pattern of a augmented chord. There are 3 ways to play it on ukulele, ranked below from easiest to hardest.
Good news: Caug has an open shape on ukulele, so you can play it without barring anything. Start there and work up the neck later.
Start here — Standard Position
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Easier ways to play it — 3 shapes, easiest first
Same chord in all of them. What changes is how much your hand has to do and where on the neck it sits.
Standard Position Way 1 of 3
Standard Position
Easiest here· intermediate· the standard shape
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Movable Augmented Shape (3rd fret) Way 2 of 3
Movable Augmented Shape (3rd fret)
intermediate
Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones.
Alternative Way 3 of 3
Alternative
intermediate
Fingered low on the neck with no barre — a useful middle step between the open shape and the movable ones.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Standard Position — open position, so several strings ring unfretted.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
Caug on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on ukulele.
Caug on Ukulele — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play Caug on ukulele?
“Standard Position” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest Caug shape on ukulele. Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
What notes are in the C Augmented chord?
C Augmented is C, E, G# — the 1-3-#5 interval pattern of a augmented chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
How many ways can you play Caug on ukulele?
This page has 3 Caug voicings for ukulele, ranked from easiest to hardest: Standard Position, Movable Augmented Shape (3rd fret), Alternative. They all sound like Caug; the differences are how hard they are to hold and how high they sit.
What can I play instead of Caug?
The nearest stand-ins on ukulele that keep the same root are C5, Csus4, Csus2. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play Caug on other instruments?
Yes. Caug is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind Caug
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.
Borrowed Chords and Modal Mixture — Stealing from Parallel Keys
The raised fifth comes from outside the key. This is where chords like it are borrowed from.
7 min read
Functional Harmony: Three Roles, One Engine
That sharpened fifth is a pull toward the next chord — here is the mechanism.
6 min read
Intervals — The Only Music Theory You Actually Need
Two stacked major thirds, and the symmetry that makes it feel homeless.
5 min read