Blasted "2" Chord?

[Cornival]

Is it possible to post up an excerpt? Would help if we could see what the tune is doing too.

[grwagner]

If the piece doesn't have one of those "fingers-on-strings" chord diagrams, a good reference on the subject is one of the Mel Bay complete chord books. An alternative is to use the piano score (if available) and play the actual notes written on it - can't get confused that way. If it can't be fingered, one of the inversions will probably work just fine.

The other issue is that a lot of people who write songs with only chord indications don't follow a standard. One man's D2 can be another's D9. Personally, I find x9 to sound better than xsus2, having the octave gets over some of the dissonance (really big improvement with distorted electric guitar ). If in doubt, use the alternative with the simplest fingering.

[owl]

If the piece doesn't have one of those "fingers-on-strings" chord diagrams,

Most of the P&W music is set out like the attached file... chords above the lyrics (which I have deleted because of it's religious content)... you don't generally get chord diagrams but you do get some notation (in varying degrees) which can help

Owl

[justinp]

As I understand it, the '2' notation is what we would call an add9, however, piano players can add the second in 'between' the root and third, while on guitar that is often a real pain to do. Cluster chords don't work well on an instrument tuned in fourths. In any situation with a 2 chord notated for guitar you can get away with a major chord, an add9 or a sus2. None of those will clash with the overall harmony. Then it's just down to personal taste.

J

[zeroeffect]

I've just been through a heap of my worship music and I came across several instances of this... I would think they mean Eadd9... Dadd9 or whatever
Owl

Thanks Owl!

At least your chord sheets have some music written on them. The ones I saw, were just words and chord names written above.

Geez Guys and Gals! I think we are getting the old knickers in a knot over nothing here.
I surmise that this relates to a strummed chordal accompaniment. So whether you call it an E2 or Eadd9 or zippitydoodah there is an F# somewhere in the chord and that is really all that matters! Stick it in somewhere and be done with it!

Sorry Ramsnake,

If it were just for me, I wouldn't even care. I'd toss the sheets, and play some classical music, or some Jazz. But my student wanted to know what the chord name meant. So, I was just trying to narrow it down some. I appreciate your input; and I even agree with you...but in a teaching situation, Eadd9...E9...and Esus2 are different things. Especially when the student wants to know that difference.

OK, I'm ready to be told off now!
Paul

Paul,

As I understand it, the '2' notation is what we would call an add9, however, piano players can add the second in 'between' the root and third, while on guitar that is often a real pain to do. Cluster chords don't work well on an instrument tuned in fourths. In any situation with a 2 chord notated for guitar you can get away with a major chord, an add9 or a sus2. None of those will clash with the overall harmony. Then it's just down to personal taste.

J

Thanks justnp,

This makes sense to me...

[JohnRoss]

Case in point:

Sus 2 and add9 is the same thing. In the key of C they would both be a D.

Hank, this simply is not true: Sus 2 means a 2 instead of a 3, and add9 means to add a 9 and keep the 3.

I think you want to say 2 instead of 1. Sus 4 is 4 instead of 3, sus 11 is 11 instead of 10, sus 9 is 9 instead of the octave - it's the note below that is replaced.
In Owl's example, there is a C/D followed by a D/E, so I think that must be what we are talking about - ordinary chords with the supertonic in the bass. The bass tonic would be omitted (off-topic, but this is the chord that creates that haunting harmonic effect in a pop song like "On Broadway": F/G F/G G, etc., or if you prefer, F2 / G / ).

[avoz]

Apparently '2' is an abbreviation for a third inversion 7th chord. As chords of the 7th involve four different notes they have more complex 'signatures' than triads. Religious music made much use of figured bass (as did much secular Baroque music)and the four versions are:

7TH CHORD POSITION FULL SIGNATURE ABBREVIATIONS

Root position: 7 7 or 7
5 5
3

First Inversion: 6 6
5 5
3

Second Inversion: 6 4
4 3
3

Third Inversion: 6 4 or 2
4 2
2

[remmus]

Could just play what sounds good.

[avoz]

Alas, the above got scrambled somehow, the figures aligned in the reply box being squeezed up - will try again to set out the two right-hand columns:

FULL SIGNATURE ABBREVIATIONS

7 7 or 7 Root pos.
5 5
3

6 6 First Inv.
5 5
3

6 4 2nd Inv.
4 3
3

6 4 or 2 3rd Inv.
4 2
2

[avoz]

Still scrambled - not only "Blasted 2" but "Blasted computer/communication" - I don't understand how the columns laid out on my screen are scrambled in transit. I give up.

[JohnRoss]

Apparently '2' is an abbreviation for a third inversion 7th chord. As chords of the 7th involve four different notes they have more complex 'signatures' than triads. Religious music made much use of figured bass (as did much secular Baroque music)and the four versions are:

7TH CHORD POSITION FULL SIGNATURE ABBREVIATIONS

Root position: 7 7 or 7
5 5

Avoz,

(Off-topic, but you're trying to create tabulations using spaces, and html does not allow this - if a browser sees more than one space consectively it only reads one of them, and not even that at the beginning of a line. There are ways around this, but most forums (like this one) use BBCode precisely to prevent overambitious people from sticking a lot of html code in their messages and making a mess, or worse.)

Anyway, I think I know where you're coming from, but isn't this Roman numeral analysis? I.e., you would identify the chord in the scale first using a Roman numeral? I only remember this very, very dimly, but it goes something like
I 4
2

where the "I" is supposed to be a Roman "One" and the 2 should line up under the 4. That would say a major chord on the tonic with an added major seventh, all in the third inversion, apparently, I'm not going to do the maths. But we're talking about "lettered" chords, here, D's and Eb's, and I've never heard of this kind of analysis or representation being used with them. Not that I get out much.

[Azalais]

This is the best argument for using TAB that I've heard yet...

[JohnRoss]

:grire: This is the best argument for using TAB that I've heard yet...

[Matt Molloy]

:grire: This is the best argument for using TAB that I've heard yet...

And there was I thinking it was the best argument for using real music and not those chord charts etc...

Cheers,

Matt.

[owl]

Could just play what sounds good.

LOL What have I been saying?

The add9 chords work fine for straight 'chord bashing'... many church guitarists just use the 2 line system as Zeroeffect said... chords above lyrics, as so many of them don't read music

Play what sounds right!
Play in time and play loud!
But most of all have fun... I do!

This is the best argument for using TAB that I've heard yet...

LOL Az... you go girl!

Owl