Q: It really shouldn't be, they're way too different and yet I have a hard time doing it. I can tell the difference between these chords if I try really hard to isolate pitches but I want to be able to instantly hear and know what it is, just like I can instantly distinguish a major from a minor chord. Do you have any advice? Many thanks
A: i hope you are doing this from inside a song and not outside. because dim and aug chords in particular are very much out of context if they are used outside of a song. and with aug, it's almost like borderline it's almost unfair that that one even has a name. because when you get into that territory it's like you're doing a song and you just need to change one note a certain way and you do it. and there might not really be a name for the chord. usually you don't just go around playing augmented chords .... the fact that it has a name make it seem like more of a solid/usable thing than it really is. in other words, the places it is used almost always seems like a sort of exception of some kind. there are many other patterns of notes that are sort of built out of all wholetones, etc, which are a complete mess to try to name. and i feel that a straight up augmented triad is in that family and is kind of unfair that that one gets such an easy name. and i've seen a lot of people get distracted early on trying to learn what it means and what its importance is, just because it gets brought up early in classes along with minor and major chords. but really it's something that should be discovered through songs, as needed. along with all the other things which may not have names