About Eadd9 — drop 2 voicings
Eadd9 is E, G#, B and F# — E with the ninth added, and no seventh.
It sounds bright and ringing. No seventh at all: that is what “add” means, and it is why this sounds open where a maj9 sounds lush.
Eadd9 notes and formula
| E | G# | B | F# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 9 |
Tonic — a triad with one colour on it.
Also written E(add9), Eadd2 or E add nine. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Eadd9
Take the four notes stacked as close together as they go, then drop the second voice from the top an octave. The gap it opens is what makes the chord sound like a chord rather than a cluster.
It lands on four adjacent strings, which is why it is the workhorse voicing on guitar.
Eadd9 has 14 of them, on the top four strings, the bottom four strings and the middle four strings, from open position up to the 13th — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass, G# in the bass, B in the bass and F# in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the nut, which is the easiest grip here.
5 of them sit on the top four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with xx21x2 — no barre and only 3 fretted notes. 1 of the 6 shapes here sits in open position. 3 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 022102 | open position | E, root position | F# | barred |
| xx21x2 | 1st fret | E, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x76474 | 4th fret | E, root position | G# | all fretted |
| x76x77 | 6th fret | E, root position | B | barred |
| 12-11-x-11-12-12 | 11th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
| x-x-14-13-12-14 | 12th fret | E, root position | F# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 9 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Eadd9
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Eadd9 is F#m7 to B7 — the ii and the V of E — and B7 shares its third and seventh with F#m7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Eadd9 belongs to C# minor (the ♭III), E major (the I), F# minor (the ♭VII), Ab minor (the ♭VI), A major (the V) and B major (the IV).
What to play over Eadd9
Every note of Eadd9 is in E major pentatonic, E major, E lydian, E mixolydian and E lydian dominant.
Chords near Eadd9
Change one note of Eadd9 and you have E (drop the ninth), Esus2 (drop the major third), Esus2sus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Emaj7 (the ninth becomes a major seventh), Emaj9 (add the major seventh) or E6 (the ninth becomes a sixth).
Eadd9 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Eadd9’s sound and use this page follows Robert Rawlins & Nor Eddine Bahha, Jazzology (Hal Leonard, 2005). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.