Welcome to the C add 9 tuning, a beautifully resonant and harmonically rich setup primarily favored in genres like shoegaze for its ability to create lush, expansive soundscapes. This tuning transforms your open strings into a vibrant C major 9 chord, providing an immediate foundation for complex harmonies and ethereal textures.

Verbal Analysis

Imagine strumming your guitar and instantly hearing a full, shimmering C major 9 chord. That's the magic of this tuning. It's designed to make sophisticated jazz and shoegaze voicings easily accessible, allowing you to focus on melody and atmosphere rather than complex fingerings. The open strings ring with a character that is both bright and melancholic, perfect for sustained chords, arpeggios, and drones. The prominent E notes (the major third of C) in the bass and treble add a sparkling clarity and an almost spiritual depth to the overall sound, making it feel open and expansive.

Technical Analysis

The open string notes are E2 C3 E3 G3 D4 E4 (from low E to high E). Analyzing these notes relative to C as the root:

• E2 (6th String): This acts as a major 3rd of C, providing a bright, open bass.
• C3 (5th String): The Root of the chord, firmly establishing the C tonality.
• E3 (4th String): Another Major 3rd of C, reinforcing the chord's major quality.
• G3 (3rd String): The Perfect 5th of C, adding harmonic completeness.
• D4 (2nd String): The Major 9th (or Major 2nd) of C, providing a jazzy, suspended quality.
• E4 (1st String): A high Major 3rd of C, contributing to the shimmering top end.

This precise arrangement provides the essential components of a C major 9 chord (C-E-G-D) with strategic octave doublings of the E notes. The open tuning itself is a full Cmaj9 chord voicing, meaning simply strumming all open strings delivers a rich harmonic palette. Furthermore, this tuning is highly conducive to creating movable chord shapes. By applying a full barre at any fret, you can effortlessly transpose this Cmaj9 voicing to other keys, creating a Dmaj9 at the 2nd fret (where C on the 5th string becomes D), or a Gmaj9 at the 7th fret. The consistent intervals between the re-tuned strings (5th, 4th, 2nd) mean that simple fingerings across these strings will often yield pleasing, harmonically complex results, making it easy to experiment with new chord voicings.

Here are the notes for each string in this tuning, from the thickest (6th) to the thinnest (1st):

• 6th String: E2
• 5th String: C3
• 4th String: E3
• 3rd String: G3
• 2nd String: D4
• 1st String: E4

How to Tune

To achieve the C add 9 tuning from standard EADGBe, follow these precise string adjustments:

• 6th String (E2): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• 5th String (A3 to C3): Tune up 3 semitones.
• 4th String (D3 to E3): Tune up 2 semitones.
• 3rd String (G3): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).
• 2nd String (B3 to D4): Tune up 3 semitones.
• 1st String (E4): Keep as is; no change (0 semitones).

Important Tuning Advice: Tuning strings up by 2 or 3 semitones, as required for the 5th, 4th, and 2nd strings, represents a significant increase in string tension. While none of the individual string movements exceed 4 semitones (which would typically advise a different string gauge), always tune gradually and ensure your guitar is well-maintained to handle the increased stress. If you frequently use tunings with notable upward changes, consider checking your guitar's setup or using a slightly lighter gauge string set to reduce overall tension and ensure playability.