What's this chord called?

[MisterJ]

In tab format:

e -----0--------
B -----3--------
G ---------------
D -----2--------
A -----3--------
E ---------------

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by MisterJ

In tab format:

e -----0--------
B -----3--------
G ---------------
D -----2--------
A -----3--------
E ---------------

Where's it coming from and where's it going?

Makes a difference in naming, but nominally a Cadd9.

[stanron]

Originally Posted by MisterJ

In tab format:

e -----0--------
B -----3--------
G ---------------
D -----2--------
A -----3--------
E ---------------

Either

Cadd2

or

Cadd9

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by stanron

Either

Cadd2

or

Cadd9

Or other possibilities depending on the preceding and ensuing chords...

[macmanmatty]

that chord would be a C3rd/add2 as it has no fifth unless the G string is also open. In which case its a Cadd2 a Cadd9 would contain the dominate 7th of C Bb which this chord does not .

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by MisterJ

In tab format:

e -----0--------
B -----3--------
G ---------------
D -----2--------
A -----3--------
E ---------------

Cadd9, as it stands, but why is the 3rd string missing? What are you not telling us? (What you do with the 3rd string might make a difference.)

[Wyllys]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

that chord would be a C3rd/add2 as it has no fifth unless the G string is also open. In which case its a Cadd2 a Cadd9 would contain the dominate 7th of C Bb which this chord does not .

I think a C9 implies the 7th. The point of "add" is that there are no implied tones, simply the added note over the triad.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chor...(popular_music)

Scroll down to "added tone chords".

Cadd2 seems to be the least ambiguous...

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

that chord would be a C3rd/add2 as it has no fifth unless the G string is also open. In which case its a Cadd2 a Cadd9 would contain the dominate 7th of C Bb which this chord does not .

Not exactly:
C E G Bb D = C9
C E G D = Cadd9, or Cadd2.
C E G B D = Cmaj9
C D G, or C G D = Csus2. (Or probably Gsus4 if you're a jazz musician.)

BTW - apologies for pedantry, but "dominant" (not "dominate") means the V degree of a scale and the chord on that step. It doesn't refer directly to the 7th note in a chord - although it does imply the b7.
The Bb on a C7 chord is the "minor 7th" - as opposed to the C-B "major (larger) 7th".
C7 (C-E-G-Bb) is a "major minor 7th" chord. It's known as a "dominant 7th chord", because it's the 7th chord on the dominant degree of the F major (and F harmonic minor) scale.
IOW, in F major, C (major triad) is the dominant (V) chord. Add a diatonic 7th (Bb), and you get the dominant 7th chord.

Of course, that chord type has become known as a "dominant 7th" type, even when it's not acting as a V chord. The combination of major 3rd and minor 7th produces a "dominant 7th type" chord.

[mc1]

fancy C chord

[DupleMeter]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Not exactly:
C E G Bb D = C9
C E G D = Cadd9, or Cadd2.
C E G B D = Cmaj9
C D G, or C G D = Csus2. (Or probably Gsus4 if you're a jazz musician.)

BTW - apologies for pedantry, but "dominant" (not "dominate") means the V degree of a scale and the chord on that step. It doesn't refer directly to the 7th note in a chord - although it does imply the b7.
The Bb on a C7 chord is the "minor 7th" - as opposed to the C-B "major (larger) 7th".
C7 (C-E-G-Bb) is a "major minor 7th" chord. It's known as a "dominant 7th chord", because it's the 7th chord on the dominant degree of the F major (and F harmonic minor) scale.
IOW, in F major, C (major triad) is the dominant (V) chord. Add a diatonic 7th (Bb), and you get the dominant 7th chord.

Of course, that chord type has become known as a "dominant 7th" type, even when it's not acting as a V chord. The combination of major 3rd and minor 7th produces a "dominant 7th type" chord.

And one more point of pedantry: you can't technically call the note a 9 without the presence of the 7th degree. In theory the rule is that you cannot give a note it's upper structure name (9, 11 13) until you've stacked all 3rds in the first octave (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).

So while most people call it a Cadd9 it should always be called a Cadd2, simply because the mere act of calling that D a "9" (regardless of the "add" nomenclature) is saying "yep, we've got a 7 in there".

Again - total theory geek kind of thing. But you'd definitely get that wrong on a music school theory test with the add9 naming...even though everyone knows what it means.

[macmanmatty]

Originally Posted by JonPR

Not exactly:
C E G Bb D = C9
C E G D = Cadd9, or Cadd2.
C E G B D = Cmaj9
C D G, or C G D = Csus2. (Or probably Gsus4 if you're a jazz musician.)

I thought that C D E G Bb = C add9 and that C D G Bb = C sus9th abd that every time you had a 9th the chord always had Both the 2nd and 7th .

[stanron]

9 can be a chord name or an interval. As a chord name it means a flat seven and a second added to the triad. As an interval it is a compound second above the root.

Because not everyone gets this difference, and why should they?, I prefer to call

C D E G

C add 2.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by DupleMeter

And one more point of pedantry: you can't technically call the note a 9 without the presence of the 7th degree. In theory the rule is that you cannot give a note it's upper structure name (9, 11 13) until you've stacked all 3rds in the first octave (root, 3rd, 5th, 7th).

So while most people call it a Cadd9 it should always be called a Cadd2, simply because the mere act of calling that D a "9" (regardless of the "add" nomenclature) is saying "yep, we've got a 7 in there".

Again - total theory geek kind of thing. But you'd definitely get that wrong on a music school theory test with the add9 naming...even though everyone knows what it means.

Understood - and agreed! However, convention is not always what music schools and theorists would like it to be.
You (and I) might like it if everyone followed the sensible route and called it "Cadd2", but "Cadd9" is definitely more common, in my experience - and indeed is well understood, so is not a problem in practice. As you say "everyone knows what it means" (well 99.9% of musicians anyway) - which is what matters.
It may be that it's popular because the D usually is added in the upper octave of the chord (rather than right above the root note), and many people assume that a chord symbol implies voicing - even though it doesn't.

It's one of those things like grammatical solecisms that English professors hate, but everyone used them and they become part of the language in any case. "If it ain't broke..." (as opposed to "if it isn't broken..." .)

After all, who cares about music theory tests?

[Wyllys]

For me, any "add" means just that and ONLY that: a note added to the basic triad with no "implied" or hidden notes. And while "add2" is likely the most correctest, I prefer "add9" due to the mental picture of a "stretched" chord. "add2" seems tonally claustrophobic to me...

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by macmanmatty

I thought that C D E G Bb = C add9 and that C D G Bb = C sus9th abd that every time you had a 9th the chord always had Both the 2nd and 7th .

There is a logic there, but that's not how the conventions work in practice.

As DupleMeter says, in strict theory terms the use of the figure "9" - as you're saying - ought to mean there's a 7th too - because of the stacking 3rds principle (1-3-5-7-9...). So:

C E G Bb D = "C9", because the symbol just names the last note added on top. (In practice the chord tones can be voiced in any order, of course.)

And - C E G B D = "Cmaj9", because the hidden 7th is major.

It's that principle that then leads to "add9", via the logic of "what do we call the chord when it's C E G - D? I.e., when we've dropped the 7th and it's only 1-3-5---9?" I.e., we're still thinking of that D as the 9th, counted in 3rds from C. We could call it "C9less7" - which obviously makes sense. (Although translating that to "C9-7" would cause a whole lot of other issues... )

"Cadd9" is not ideal, but it happens to be the standard convention in common parlance. A C major triad with a D added could easily (and perhaps should) be called "Cadd2"; the "9" is - in a sense - just a hangover from the old-fashioned "stacked 3rds" principle which all our chord theory and naming is based on. (It's a bit like expressing the power of a car engine as a quantity of "horse power"... )

OTOH, "Csus9" is not common, while "Csus2" is. In another popular (but not strictly correct) principle, "sus" is thought to mean "replace the 3rd with the following note". So if you're replacing the 3rd, it's going to be with the note either side - as counted from the root - meaning 2 or 4.

C D G (or C G D) = Csus2

C E G D (or C D E G, C G D E, etc) = Cadd2, but more widely known as Cadd9

C D G Bb, meanwhile, would be called either "C7sus2", or simply "Gm/C".