I have had this in my mind since posting and wanting to bring in two short examples of augmented chords (triads) in action.
Mamma Mia (Intro) by ABBA.
This uses the augmented of the tonic chord, simply moving from major tonic to augmented tonic and back again.
Just Like Starting Over (Intro) by John Lennon
This also uses the augmented of the tonic chord as a stepping stone to the relative minor vi chord and back to the tonic again. The movement on the high E string is a great example of voice leading.
There are other ways in which an augmented could be used would be used but I shall refrain from going too deeply down that hole. I just wanted to bring a little light rather than dismiss them altogether.
