Minor Add 2
madd2
0 - 2 - 3 - 7Minor + major 2nd
About Minor Add 2
A minor add2 chord is a minor triad with the second squeezed in beside the third — in C that is C, D, E♭ and G, written Cmadd2. The D and the E♭ are a semitone apart and sound together, which makes this the only chord in the catalogue built deliberately around a cluster.
Notes and formula
The formula is 1 – 2 – ♭3 – 5, or 0 – 2 – 3 – 7 in semitones. The second is added within the octave rather than raised to a ninth, and that placement is the whole character of the chord.
Raise the D by an octave and the friction disappears — the chord becomes a minor add9, which is smooth and common. Keep it where it is and the semitone against the minor third stays audible.
How to play it
On guitar the shape is x–3–0–0–4–x, sounding C–D–G–E♭. The open D string carries the second and the fretted E♭ sits above the fifth, which spreads the cluster across two octaves and keeps it from grating.
On piano the literal voicing C–D–E♭–G is the harsh one, and it is sometimes exactly what is wanted. Move the D up an octave and the same four pitch classes turn into a completely different sound.
What it is for
Texture, not function. The chord does not appear in progressions as a step toward anything; it appears where a composer wants a minor chord to sound uneasy without adding a seventh or an alteration.
Film scoring and ambient writing use it for that reason, and so do guitarists in open tunings, where the cluster falls under the hand without being planned.
Add2 against add9
Cmadd9 is C–E♭–G–D with the D a ninth above the root. Cmadd2 is the same four pitch classes with the D low, next to the third.
Many charts treat the two symbols as interchangeable, and for major chords the difference is small. For minor chords it is not: the semitone between the second and the minor third only exists in the close voicing.
How to voice it so it works
Keep the second and the third at least a ninth apart if the chord has to support a melody, and let them sit together only when the chord is the point — a held pad, a bell-like arpeggio, a sustained guitar figure.
The cluster reads as colour when it rings and as a mistake when it is struck hard in the middle register. That is a practical rule, and it applies to nothing else in the catalogue as strongly.
Scales that contain it
Dorian and Aeolian both fit — the chord asks only for a natural second, a minor third and a perfect fifth.
Phrygian does not: its lowered second is a semitone below the chord's D, and the collision is direct. This is the same exclusion that applies to minor ninth chords, for the same reason.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in a Cmadd2 chord?
C, D, E♭ and G. On guitar, x–3–0–0–4–x.
Is madd2 the same as madd9?
The same four pitch classes, a different voicing. Add2 keeps the second low, next to the minor third, and the semitone between them is audible; add9 lifts it an octave and the friction disappears.
Why does it sound harsh on piano but fine on guitar?
Guitar shapes spread the notes across strings, so the second and the third end up an octave or more apart. On piano the literal voicing puts them side by side.