Major add9 Arpeggios on Guitar
While the most common arpeggios are the major and minor arpeggios, arpeggios can be formed from any chord. In this lesson we’re going to take a look at major add9 arpeggios, including how they’re built and the common arpeggio shapes on the guitar.
Building Major add9 Arpeggios
Major add9 chords are built adding a 9th (or major 2nd) to the root, major 3rd, and perfect 5th of the major chord.
While the note added is technically the major 2nd, it’s considered a 9th due the way chords are constructed. All of the diagrams in the lesson will refer to it as the major 2nd.
We can create the major add9 arpeggios straight from the CAGED chord shapes by adding the 9th, or major 2nd. In fact, the arpeggios are exactly the same as the CAGED major arpeggios with the exception of the added major 2nd.
Let’s go shape by shape and play through each of the major add9 arpeggios.
C Shape add9 Arpeggio
For the C shape add9 arpeggio, we’re starting with the root note on the 5th string. Recommended fingering is shown in the diagram, but feel free to adjust to your liking.
A Shape add9 Arpeggio
For the A shape add9 arpeggio, we’re starting with the root note on the 5th string. Recommended fingering is shown in the diagram, but, once again, feel free to adjust to your liking.
G Shape add9 Arpeggio
For the G shape add9 arpeggio, we’re starting with the root note on the 6th string.
E Shape add9 Arpeggio
For the E shape add9 arpeggio, we’re starting with the root note on the 6th string.
D Shape add9 Arpeggio
Finally, for the D shape add9 arpeggio, we’re starting with the root note on the 4th string.
Diagonal add9 Arpeggio Patterns
We can also combine these arpeggio shapes to form diagonal arpeggio patterns that move horizontally up the fretboard. These arpeggios are great for transitioning between positions.
Diagonal Arpeggios – 6th String Root
Diagonal Arpeggios – 5th String Root
Diagonal Arpeggios – 4th String Root
Wrap up
In this lesson we looked at the major add9 arpeggios and how they can be formed from the CAGED chord shapes. While they’re not as mainstream as the major/minor arpeggios, they can be just as useful and they sound amazingly good. Try incorporating this arpeggios into your playing over add9 chords, and they can even be used over the basic major chords.
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