Mild aortic regurgitation causes a long, soft early diastolic decrescendo murmur. As the regurgitation becomes more severe, the pressure between the aorta and left ventricle equalizes more quickly and the murmur becomes significantly shorter, although the intensity can increase slightly.

The murmur of aortic regurgitation is a soft, high-pitched, early diastolic decrescendo murmur usually heard best at the 3rd intercostal space on the left (Erb's point) at end expiration with the patient sitting up and leaning forward. If the AR is due to aortic root disease, the murmur will be best heard at the right upper sternal border and not at Erb's point.
In patients with AR, an early diastolic rumble may also be heard at the apex due to the regurgitant jet striking the anterior leaflet of the mitral valve causing it to vibrate. This murmur is termed the Austin-Flint murmur.

In addition to the above two murmurs, a systolic ejection murmur may be present in people with severe AR at the right upper sternal border simply due to the large stroke volume passing through the aortic valve with each systolic contraction of the LV.