Faug Chord on Guitar
Faug = F – A – C# (Root, Major 3rd, Minor 6th)
Faug stretches the major triad's fifth up a half step instead of shrinking it, the opposite move a diminished chord makes, producing another symmetrical structure — this one built entirely from major thirds — at guitar's uniquely demanding first-fret barre position.
The triad is F, A, and C# — root, major third, and that same telltale augmented fifth. Guitarists lean on Faug as an altered stand-in for plain F7 wherever the progression is heading toward Bb major anyway, since the sharpened fifth gives that resolution a sharper, more chromatic runway than a plain dominant seventh offers.
Fingerings
Barre (1st fret)
How to Practice It
Getting from plain F major to Faug at this fret means adding fingers on the A, D, and G strings, since none of those raised notes overlap with what the barre and open triad already cover — a genuinely wider stretch layered on top of an already unforgiving position. It's worth remembering the chord's built-in symmetry too: the identical shape, unchanged, also names the augmented triads sitting on its other two notes.
Common Progressions
- Faug – Bb (an altered-dominant resolution, functioning like V+ – I)
- Gm – Faug – Bb (vi – V+ – I)
- Bb – Faug – Bb (a chromatic color move around the tonic)
- Cm – Faug – Bb (ii – V+ – I)
FAQ
- How is Faug different from a plain major triad?
- Plain F major's fifth is left where a stable perfect fifth naturally sits, while Faug pushes that same note up a half step, and that single change is responsible for the whole chord's unsettled, reaching quality.
- Why is Faug also called a symmetrical chord?
- Every gap between its three notes measures a major third rather than the usual mix of major and minor thirds a plain triad uses, so the same three pitches read equally well as an augmented triad rooted on any of them.
- Where does Faug typically resolve?
- It often functions as an altered substitute for F7, resolving the same way that dominant would — down a fourth to Bb major — but with a sharper, more chromatic edge leading into that resolution.
- Is Faug harder to finger than plain F major given the first fret?
- Yes, somewhat — it needs extra fingers spread across three strings rather than plain F major's more compact spacing, and that wider reach compounds the difficulty of an already demanding low-position barre.
- How does the chord's symmetry show up in practice?
- Because nothing about the fingering changes, playing this exact shape elsewhere in a chart can equally well be read and named as the augmented triad built on either of its other two notes.
- Why are augmented chords less common than diminished ones in guitar music?
- Their unusual, unstable color makes them useful mainly as brief altered-dominant color chords rather than passing chords with a single obvious resolution, so they appear more selectively than diminished chords do.
- Does Faug ever appear as a passing chord rather than a substitute dominant?
- Yes — it sometimes connects two chords a whole step apart chromatically, using the raised fifth as a stepping stone between two more stable harmonies, a technique borrowed from classical voice-leading practice.
Faug on other instruments: Faug on Piano. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.