Chord Workshop 2020: Day 5 – Suspended Chords

With names like Asus4 or Dsus2, surely they must be crazy, right? Nope! They are actually super easy to understand – but why? Because I'm teaching you! Just kidding. In the previous recap installment I dropped a table on you. I asked that you pay very close attention to the blue boxes, which are the 2 and 4 in the given Major scale. Here it is again, but this time I've narrowed it down to the important stuff. The important stuff includes the yellow boxes (the 1-3-5 of the itself) along with the blue boxes:

A Major ( A ) B C# D E You can clearly see that the A Major chord, for 1 2 3 4 5 example, uses A – C# - E, which is the 1 – 3 – 5. D Major ( D ) E F# G A The same goes for D Major (D – F# - A) as well 1 2 3 4 5 as G Major (G – B – D) all the way to E Major, which uses E – G# - B. G Major ( G ) A B C D 1 2 3 4 5 Well, what happens if we SUSPEND a given Major chord? C Major ( C ) D E F G 1 2 3 4 5 Will we use the 1 – 3 – 5 property? E Major ( E ) F# G# A B Nope. Here's what “suspend” means: 1 2 3 4 5

My wobbly highlighting (sorry) is the big point.

When we create a suspended (sus) chord, we are actually (1) attaching a note so that we can allow (2) free movement, which in turn creates a (3) purgatory that (4) ultimately leaves something basically undetermined.

Thus, ALL 4 of those definitions work when it comes to suspended chords. How?

Well, a suspended chord doesn't contain a 3 or a b3. Instead, it'll either be constructed as a 1 – 2 – 5 chord, which is a (sus2) chord – OR it will be constructed as a 1 – 4 – 5 chord, which is a (sus4) chord. The removal of the Major (3) and/or minor (b3) property is what creates the suspension sound.

The first thing we'll do here is work with what I consider to be the most common sus4 and sus2 chords.

I base the common ones on chords that I have seen countless times. While there are more, the overall idea will be the same in every case. The first suspended (2 or 4) chord set I think of is Asus4 and Asus2.

When you look at the Asus4 chord, you'll probably see it as an A Major chord that has a shifted note from the 2nd fret B string to the 3rd fret B string. Naturally, that note changes from C# to D.

The A Major chord sounds just slightly above it's normal tone. So, it's no longer an A Major. The (3) goes up to (4), so Asus4.

The Asus2 looks much like the Am chord, but you want it to sound lightly LOWER than it's normal tone. Thus, the (b3) from the original Am goes down to (2) – a tonal change from C down to B.

The diagrams clearly shows that the affected string here is the B string. It's no different than what we started with when examining and using the open A Major (x-0-2-2-2-0) and open Am (x-0-2-2-1-0) chords. The affected strings there were also the B string.

One point to make before we proceed:

When I mention that a given sus4 chord looks much like a Major chord that has been shifted upward, that doesn't make the Asus4 an actual Major chord. The same applies to a sus2 chord. The visual reference I provide of suspended chords are just that – the visual movement of a given tone from either the Major (3) property upward or the minor (b3) property downward.

Just recognize that the actual notes used will not produce either a Major or a . It's purely visual.

What about Dsus4 and Dsus2 chords? The same idea applies: The Dsus4 chord takes the regular D Major (D, F#, A) and takes the original F# note (3) UP to a G note. The next number after (3) is a (4), so we're all good with 1 – 4 – 5.

The Dsus2 chord takes the regular Dm (D, F, A) and takes the original F note (b3) DOWN to an E note. While you might not know this yet, the downward movement from a b3 note is only going to be a (2) note. It's based on the Minor scale.*

For quick reference, the Minor scale = 1 – 2 – b3 – 4 – 5 – b6 – b7. That (b3) doesn't need to go up to 4 to get a sus2 chord. It must go DOWN to the (2) note. Got me?

Don't worry too much about that right now. Just realize that we are taking the b3 from the given minor chord and bringing it down to the only other available note between the (1) and (b3) note. It's got to be the (2) note simply because the minor scale says so.

Before I go too much further, here's the basic idea:

If you want to get a sus4 chord from a given Major chord, bring the (3) up one fret. If you want to get a sus2 chord from a given minor chord, take the (b3) down one fret.

Here's another example using the Csus4 and Csus2 chord concept:

The Csus4 chord takes the regular C Major (C, E, G) and takes the original E note (3) UP to an F note. The next number after (3) is a (4), so we're all good with 1 – 4 – 5.

The Csus2 chord takes the regular Cm (C, D#, G) and takes the original D# note (b3) DOWN to a D note. While I wouldn't exactly play the Cm chord in open position, the sus2 property of the Cm is still hidden in the overall “open” Cm chord shape.

Because the Csus2 chord, at least in relation to the “open” Cm chord, is pretty hard to find, there's still yet another way to find the sus4 or sus2 property of any given chord set. It goes back to those yellow and blue boxes I showed previously. You may not have noticed it earlier, but the Asus4 chord uses the same notes as the Dsus2 chord. When it comes to the “names” of these chords, they are interchangeable as separate entities. In other words, much like our sharps/flats (C#/Db as an example) you can actually call an Asus4 chord a Dsus2 chord if you want – but they are usually named for the overall key with which they are played.

Take a look below and recognize that the Asus4 is the 1 – 4 – 5 below. That's A – D – E. Take a look below and recognise that the Dsus2 is the 1 – 2 – 5 below. That's D – E – A.

A Major ( A ) B C# D E 1 2 3 4 5 D Major ( D ) E F# G A 1 2 3 4 5 G Major ( G ) A B C D 1 2 3 4 5 C Major ( C ) D E F G 1 2 3 4 5 E Major ( E ) F# G# A B 1 2 3 4 5

That might seem like a bunch of work, but it's actually pretty quick. Even if you're still struggling to remember the notes in a given chord, the (5) note is going to be found in any chord. In the case of any “A something” chord, such as A Major, Am, Asus4, etc. - you'll still have the (5) note. The only thing that is slightly harder to remember/recognize is that (4) property. However, you're just taking the initial A Major chord shape and raising the note that makes it an A Major. It goes up one fret:

It's not in a standard chord, but it can be quickly found just the same by thinking of the given Major chord (here it's an A Major) and raising the (3) property.

Since C# is the (3) in A Major, you're just adding a tone/fret to that note to get a D note, which is the (4) property. The very same (D) note that affected the original A Major chord is the sus2 version. So, this (D) is how we relate the Asus4 to Dsus2. It'll use the same notes, but it's the 1 – 2 – 5 for Dsus2. While the big ol' chart from above references part of the Major scale, you didn't truly need it. It just helps across a general spectrum IF you don't already know the notes in a given chord. However, the A – Asus4 is super easy to spot.

The same still applies with Dsus2 to Asus4. If you think of Dsus2 as a lowered (minor) property, you'll see the relation quickly:

There's your Dm chord and your Dsus2 chord. The change is in that of the F note (the b3 in Dm) becoming an E note. We had to LOWER the tone of the Dm to get the Dsus2.

The Dsus2 uses D – E – A in alphabetical order to reflect the notes of the overall Dm scale. While Dsus2 isn't minor (or Major) we can still use the Dm scale concept to find it.

So, I mentioned as little as possible about scales, but I still had to use them. After all, chords DO come from scales. However, I prefer thinking of that whole concept, when available, as chords “making” scales. That's not how it technically works, but using a scale blueprint is often much harder to retain or even recognize because it's so busy.

Instead, we can focus in specifically on a given chord as a visual diagram. It'll only have a few notes to work with, so the focus is definitely more concise. If I were to tell you ONE thing to make sure you recognize about sus4 and sus2 chords, it's this:

• When making a sus4 chord, use the Major chord version and move the Major chord property (3) up one fret. You'll get the sus4 of that standard chord name. If you do it correctly, the sus4 chord will sound just slightly higher. This gives you the 1 – 4 – 5 construction.

• When making a sus2 chord, use the minor chord version and move the minor chord property (b3) DOWN one fret. You'll get the sus2 of that standard chord name. If you do it correctly, the sus2 chord will sound just slightly lower. This gives you the 1 – 2 – 5 construction.

You'll get an exercise set below that will pretty much guarantee you'll understand exactly how this works. You'll be required to find the sus4 and sus2 chords of a given series of chords – and you'll even get to find out what their related counterparts are without much trouble at all. Exercise 1: Find the Gsus4 below We don't want the 1 – 3 – 5 here. Instead, we want the 1 – 4 – 5.

Locate whatever note is in the 3 spot and raise it ONE FRET to the next note.

What note is in the (3) spot? _____

Change that note to a (4) note and you have the _____ note.

That's your Gsus4.

Exercise 2: Find the sus2 counterpart of Gsus4 below.

If you answered correctly on the (4) from the Gsus4 above, then that's your new note counterpart for the (X) sus2 chord. Thus, Gsus4 will mean the same thing as ___ sus2. The notes will be identical.

Exercise 3: Find the Fsus4 below

*Hey, we haven't even looked at F Major yet, right? Don't worry. It's just an open E Major moved to the first 3 frets. After all, the F Major chord is an E Style Major !

We don't want the 1 – 3 – 5 here. Instead, we want the 1 – 4 – 5.

Locate whatever note is in the 3 spot and raise it ONE FRET to the next note.

What note is in the (3) spot? _____

Change that note to a (4) note and you have the _____ # note.

That's your Fsus4.

Exercise 4: Find the sus2 counterpart of Fsus4 below.

If you answered correctly on the (4) from the Fsus4 above, then that's your new root note counterpart for the (X) sus2 chord. Thus, Fsus4 will mean the same thing as ___ # sus2. The notes will be identical.