Arpeggio · C△9 · Guitar
The C△9 arpeggio is C – E – G – B – D — chord tones 1 3 5 7 9. C△9 is a lush tonic chord in ballads; its sound is wide, luminous. Below, every C, E, G, B, D on the fretboard is marked, with the root in gold. Press play to hear a one-octave arpeggio, or tap any note.
Visualizer
Guitar · standard tuning
Piano
Play loops the arpeggio up and down one octave (switch Loop off for a single pass) in the position starting at fret 8. Tap any marked note to hear it. “Show” switches or combines the fretboard and keyboard; “Sound” picks the instrument you hear. Audio is synthesized in the browser.
Reference
| Chord tone | Note | Interval from C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | C | unison (0 semitones) |
| 3 | E | major 3rd (4 semitones) |
| 5 | G | perfect 5th (7 semitones) |
| 7 | B | major 7th (11 semitones) |
| 9 | D | major 2nd + octave (14 semitones) |
Goes with: C Major (Ionian) (C D E F G A B). Voicings: see the four-note chord voicings in the chord library.
Common questions
C – E – G – B – D. As chord tones: 1 3 5 7 9. Played one after another instead of together, that is the arpeggio.
C△9 is a lush tonic chord in ballads. Its character is wide, luminous.
C Major (C D E F G A B) — the arpeggio is the skeleton of that scale, so practise them together.
Start on the root C on the low E string at fret 8 and play E-string fret 8, E-string fret 10, E-string fret 12, A-string fret 10, D-string fret 9, D-string fret 10. Then play it descending, then in eighth notes with a metronome, then over the a lush tonic chord in ballads.
Keep going
Same arpeggio on piano · Major 9th hub · chord-scale theory.
Other arpeggios from C