Alright, so i understand the concept of diatonic harmony, but what i dont understand is.


where do sus4, aug, min7(11) etc chords fall into place. for instance,

how do i know what sounds good with a Csus4 chord?

thanks in advance.

Alright, so i understand the concept of diatonic harmony, but what i dont understand is.


where do sus4, aug, min7(11) etc chords fall into place. for instance,

how do i know what sounds good with a Csus4 chord?

thanks in advance.

We just had an exhaustive discussion of sus chords here:

http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=359845

how do i know what sounds good with a Csus4 chord?

thanks in advance.

Absolutely everything sounds good with a Csus4 chord. Of course some people might disagree with that, and you might be one of those people. The only way to know is to try it and see what you think about it.

Call me selfish, but in the end I always want to please my ear more that I want to please Walter Piston. Or as Carl Ruggles said, "Use your ears like a man.".

Sus4 chords occur in diatonic harmony, same with minor 7 (11) and also aug chords (well, maj7(#5) chords which are built on the augmented triad.

For sus4 chords, I'll direct you to the thread that KayCee posted. They're typically used as a substitute for the V7 (or V) chord, or the ii-7 chord in a tonal situation. They have a lot of other uses too.

Minor 7 (11) chords are functionally exactly the same as regular minor 7 chords. This is really an important concept to keep in mind, because it simplifies a lot of things in thinking about harmony. That 11 is just a color tone, or tension, and serves no functional purpose besides just to make it sound denser, richer or "jazzier". In a diatonic situation, all the color tones must be diatonic as well, and it just so happens that with minor 7 (11) chords, every diatonic minor 7 chord (II-7, III-7, VI-7) has an 11 that fits the key. If it were a minor 7 (9), chord, however, you couldn't use it as the III-7, because the 9th degree of a III-7 chord is not in the parent scale (it would be a #4 in that key).

A good way of looking at what color tones tones you might have in a diatonic situation is by looking at the tones of the basic triad and then seeing if the note in the scale above it is a whole tone, or major 9th above it. If it is, its an available tension, if it isn't, it can't be used in the chord. For example, in C major, you have a Imaj7 chord with the triad C E G. D is a major 9 above C, so you can use a 9 on a Imaj7 chord. However, F is a minor 9th, or half step up from E, so you CAN'T have a Imaj7 (11) chord (try playing one on the piano, it sounds really, really harsh). A is a major 9th above G, so you can have a 13 on a Imaj7. That means that in a diatonic situation, you can have Imaj7(9), Imaj7(13) or Imaj7(9,13).

Aug chords typically don't exist in a diatonic situation (although they can, as the III chord in harmonic minor or melodic minor keys). Usually, they function as dominant V chords, coupled with a minor 7th on occasion. A very typical V to I cadence can be spiced up a little bit by making it a V+ to I cadence. The augmented 5th of the augmented chord voice leads really nicely to the major third of the I chord, giving it a little extra chromatic oompf. It has a little more tension, and a little more color than the typical V chord.

You'll find that non-diatonic harmony is a huge field of study. You might need to specify exactly what you're looking for.