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A sus chord, short for “suspended” chord, replaces the third note of a traditional chord with either a second or fourth note from the scale. This creates tension, as the chord feels unresolved, giving the music a fresh, open sound.
- The Sound of Suspended Chords
- How to Build Sus Chords Using Relative and Stacked Intervals
- Scale Degree Formulas For Suspended Chords
- How to Play Suspended Chords on Guitar
- Barre Chords
- Playing Sus Chords in Drop D Tuning
- How and When to Use Sus Chords
- Summary
The intervals (from the major scale) used to construct a chord define the chord’s quality. A chord’s quality e.g. major (happy), minor (sad), augmented (uneasy), or suspended (tense), describes the mood, or flavor of the chord. e.g. how it sounds or makes one feel. What are intervals? Intervals when used in the context of music theory describe the ...
We can use intervals in two ways, either relative to the root e.g. counting the distance from the root note to each note included in the chord. Or we can stack intervals to build chords, meaning the interval is relative to the previous note of the chord (chord tone). Both major and minor chords are triads. This means the chord contains three notes ...
All chords consist of notes taken from their corresponding major scale. In the table below we see the 7 notes of the A major scale and the corresponding scale degrees which are simply the order of notes in a given scale. With this in mind, the formula used to build an Asus4 chord from the A major scale is 1, 4, 5. The formula used to build an ASus2...
Now that we understand how sus chords are built let’s take a closer look at how to play them. We’ll stick with the Asus4 and Asus2 examples we have used above. In simple terms, if you take an A major chord and want to make it into a Sus4 chord we need to move the major third interval/3rd scale degree (C♯) up in pitch one semitone to D. On the fretb...
Sus4
To transform the major barre chords shapes (A and E shapes) into moveable sus chords, the same rules apply. First, identify the major third and move up one fret (sus4) or down to frets (sus2). When we play barre chords using the E form(as seen on the left) the third is played by our middle finger (marked with a 2 below). If changing this to a sus4 chord simply raise the third a semitone. This can be a tricky chord shape to play, especially if you have large fingers. An alternative is to use t...
Sus2
Sus2 chords can also be played using moveable barre chord shapes. If using our A barre chord shape it’s actually pretty simple. All we need to do is lift the 4th (ring) finger off the fretboard. You can’t play sus2 chords using an E barre shape as the major 2nd would sit one fret lower than the barre made by the index finger.
Ifplaying in Drop D, moveable sus chords are very easy to form and are similar to power chords. The two shapes below for asus2 and asus4 are simple variations on A power chords. To play aus4 we’re simply barring the low E, A, D, and G strings at the 7th fret. To play as asus2 we add an additional note two frets higher up the fretboard and one strin...
We’ve discussed how sus chords are built, and some useful shapes you can use to play them, but how do you incorporate sus chords in songwriting? As discussed sus chords are ‘suspended’ between major and minor. The lack of a third adds dissonance, introducing a lack of agreement harmonically, or instability, that is eventually released, and pleasing...
Understanding chord construction is key to understanding music, rather than simply learning chord shapes. Sus chords are just another example of this, and once understood, can be used to build anticipation simply by delaying the resolution to the anticipated major or minor chord or to add spice to, what might be, an otherwise bland chord progressio...
Sep 8, 2016 · So let's look at the diminished triad. It is usually written with the note name followed by "dim" or a small circle. E.g. Cdim. D° This chord is built off minor 3rds, so we have the root note, and then a minor 3rd. Then from the minor 3rd we move another minor 3rd interval.
We ‘suspend’ a note from the chord to play a neighbour note … a note right next to it. These around the middle note (2nd or 4th) or the top note (4th or 6th). Rather than attempting to write out what this looks like, watch the video below for the full mini-lesson on suspended chords!
Suspended chords, often called “sus” chords, stand out by replacing the third note of a chord with either the second or fourth note. This substitution creates a “suspended” sound, giving the chord a neutral, unresolved quality.
Apr 9, 2021 · A “sus” chord refers to the suspension on the third note and replacing it with a non-chord tone such as the fourth – or occasionally the second note – of the scale. For instance, the C major triad contains C-E-G (R-3-5).
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Mar 21, 2024 · A suspended chord keeps the two outer notes (the G and the D), but the B is changed for the note either a 4th above G or a 2nd above G. The note a 2nd above G is A, and the note a 4th above G is C, so the two suspended G chords are G – A – D and G – C – D.
