The Zesty FRENCH Augmented 6th Chord [Tasteful Dissonance]
Le French chord? Oui, c’est moi!
Yes, I know the correct translation of that sentence is ‘L’accord Francais? Oui, c’est moi!’ (“The French chord? Yes, that’s me!”).
Or at least that’s what Google Translate tells me. And I trust Google Translate as far as I can throw it (i.e. not much)
For all I know, the subject of this email could actually mean something like:
“can I have some Ketchup for my steak au poivre, please?”
“These portions are a bit small. Can I have seconds?”
“And can you put some French dressing on my salad?”
Pro tip: do not ask any of these things at a French restaurant.
The chef may retaliate by poisoning you.
And he’d be right.
(At least you can be sure that even the poison will be delicious…)
But enough of that - I’m here to show you a different kind of ingredient. An ingredient you can use in your music to add zest and spice to it.
It’s the French augmented 6th chord.
Yes, we have seen the Italian and the German chord already… but this one is different. Just like French cooking (and I mean this in the best possible sense)
If you have an appetite for tasteful dissonance, this will definitely satisfy it.
If you want to review the previous videos on augmented 6th chords, I am posting them below:
First of all, the one on the Italian augmented 6th:
And then the one above the German, Swiss and Dutch Augmented 6ths
(The geographical names are silly, but fun)
There’s much more to know about all these wonderful chords - and how to play them on your guitar!
To know more - and to become the ultimate harmonic powerhouse on your guitar fretboard - take the Complete Chord Mastery guitar course
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