Name that chord!

June 7, 2008 11:16 PM

What is the guitar chord being played by Nancy Wilson at 0:44-0:47 in this Heart video?

I cant for the life of me figure out what the hell that is or which fingers are on what frets; doesn't look like any of the moveable barre shapes or open chords I know. But I'm absolutely sure I've seen that (or similar) before on other videos, and I'm thinking it must be something fairly common. Anyone care to clue me in?

posted by sergeant sandwich to media & arts (9 comments total)

E add 9.


][------[------[------[------[
][------[------[------[------[
][--O--[------[------[------[
][------[------[------[--O--[
][------[--O--[------[------[
][------[------[------[------[
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 12:13 AM on June 8, 2008

I'm pretty sure it's some variation of Esus2.

In standard tuning, try this fingering: o244oo
posted by scottandrew at 12:13 AM on June 8, 2008

It kind of looks like she is playing a regular ol' Em with her fingers all loose. I haven't actually pulled out a guitar to see if it sounds the same, but I did look at a couple other videos of that same song (this one in particular at 0:45ish), and that really does look like an Em, without the splayed out fingers.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 12:15 AM on June 8, 2008

She plays the chord at 0:22 also. You can approximate it with Scott's fingering, but it leaves out the 3rd. Think of it as your regular E major chord with one voice raised two frets.
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 1:35 AM on June 8, 2008

Eadd9 sounds and looks right. Thanks!

as an aside, just how fuckin' rocknroll is the part at about 2:30? makes me wet my pants every time.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 1:46 AM on June 8, 2008

it's Eadd9 all right, but it's fingered:

022452

(also Esus2 is correct, because the f# is suspended from the previous B(7))

(so you could call it Esus9 as well to indicate that the 9 is topside)

(ok, i'll shut up)
posted by stubby phillips at 10:31 AM on June 8, 2008

(one more thing, it's not an E9 because there's no dominant 7th)

(NOW i'll shut up)
posted by stubby phillips at 10:32 AM on June 8, 2008

I think Smorgasbord had it right from the start.
posted by fantasticninety at 3:01 PM on June 8, 2008

it's Eadd9 all right, but it's fingered:

022452

(also Esus2 is correct, because the f# is suspended from the previous B(7))

(so you could call it Esus9 as well to indicate that the 9 is topside)

It would be called Esus2 if it has no third degree (G#). If it has the third as well as the 9th (or 2nd) it's called Eadd9 (or Eadd2). It has nothing to do with the previous chord. Esus9 is not a standard chord name -- there are sus2 chords and sus4 chords.
posted by ludwig_van at 6:28 PM on August 9, 2008