Last month[1], we explored the somber-sounding minor add-2 arpeggio, also known as minor add-9, which is simply a minor triad arpeggio with a second, or ninth,...
Last month[1], we explored the somber-sounding minor add-2 arpeggio, also known as minor add-9, which is simply a minor triad arpeggio with a second, or ninth, added on top or sandwiched between the root and the minor, or “flatted,” third, resulting in a four-note entity, spelled 1 2 b3 5.
Using the theory-friendly key of A minor to demonstrate, I offered more than a dozen different two-octave fretboard patterns and fingerings for an Am(add2) arpeggio (A B C E), giving you plenty of options for playing it all over the neck.
I’d now like to introduce you to minor add2’s blissful, optimistic sibling, major add-2 (alternatively analyzed as major add-9), which is based on a major triad and spelled 1 2 3 5. To convert minor add-2 to major add-2, simply “un-flat” the minor third, making it major.
For example, FIGURE 1 depicts both an Am(add2) and an Aadd2 arpeggio (A B C# E) in open position, plus a couple of voicings of each arpeggio’s corresponding chord, configured as either an add2 or an add9.
Just as we had done with the first Am(add2) arpeggio pattern I showed you last month[2], FIGURE 2 shows an Aadd2 arpeggio played in two octaves across all six strings in sixth position, again skipping over the B string for the sake of avoiding an index-finger barre. The only difference here is we’ve changed each C note to C#, one fret higher, resulting in a slight fingering alteration in each octave.
FIGURE 3 illustrates just about every remaining fixed-position shape for playing an Aadd2 arpeggio across two octaves, all of which are again very similar to their Am(add2) counterparts that I showed you in the previous lesson. In each pattern,