Sus2 ?

[Basswou]

hello there !!

Can someone tell me what a sus2 chord is ?

thanks !!

[Yvon]

It's the same as Cadd9, some people take off the 3rd though.

So it would be, in C:

C-E-G-D

[JimK]

...I know I'm rusty-
The sus usually refers to the 4th taking the place of the 3rd. So, one possible voicing of, say, a Gsus2 would be-
G-C-F-A
Sus chords usually function as V chords(both share the Mixolydian mode).

Now, pretend you're sitting at a piano-
See the ROOT as the Left hand(the "G" note); now look at the remaining 3 notes(C-F-A)...looks like an "Fmaj triad, in 2nd inversion, right?(the 5th is on the BOTTOM).
So, with a sus2 chord, play the ROOT with the left hand while playing the chord just BELOW the root with your right hand. Remember, you're using the Mixolydian mode(G-A-B-C-D-E-F); "F" is just BELOW "G", in this case.

Now, if dissonance is your bag, yeah, by all means, add the 3rd!

[Oysterman]

Everywhere I've encountered sus2 chords, they are "formulated" as R-2-5. Like a minor chord, but the b3 is dropped ½ step, to a 2. So with a C, this would be C-D-G.

[gruffpuppy]

Bing, Oysterman gets the prize.

A Csus2 chord would be CDG

or Root Second Fifth.


the "normal" 3rd hits the highway

Yvon's chord is a favorite of mine but i believe that would be a CM9

Jim i am not quite sure what that chord is, maybe a Cdom7sus4add6 or something, sounds pretty cool on my bass.

[Yvon]

Originally posted by gruffpuppy
Bing, Oysterman gets the prize.

A Csus2 chord would be CDG

or Root Second Fifth.


the "normal" 3rd hits the highway

Yvon's chord is a favorite of mine but i believe that would be a CM9

Jim i am not quite sure what that chord is, maybe a Cdom7sus4add6 or something, sounds pretty cool on my bass.

C-E-G-D
is major. The E is not flat.

And I know that Oysterman is right, but I asked not later than last week to 3 of my friend how the play a sus2 chord...
and they all put the 3rd in there and play the 2nd as the 9th.

But as I said the "real" way to play it is
C-D-G

[gruffpuppy]

whoops sorry yvon, still working on my second cup of coffee. were your friends bass players or guitar players, when i play bass chords i try to take out as many notes as possible to create lack of mud.
i hardly ever play a third the guitar players i usually play with are hendrix freaks and they all love the "Hendrix Chord" that maj/min flat 7 thing.

as far as the 9th goes yea if the guitar player was playing a sus2 chord i would play the 2 as a 9, again to remove mud.

[Yvon]

My friends where 2 guitar player and 1 piano player.

It's true that, on bass, you want to take off as much note as possible.
On guitar an piano, you can play play the voicing you want, you just go with the music.
Some voicing will sound better than other.

[JimK]

...I dunno, Wumps; C-D-G as a sus chord?
I'm beyond rust-ville...

[Yvon]

If you talk about a sus chord then you are right Jim. sus used to mean sus4, but there is a "new" chord call sus2, and it's c-d-g and sus4 would be c-f-g

[gruffpuppy]

rim shot on:

this thread has provided much SuStenance for my brain.

rim shot off:

[Yvon]

we havent heard from basswou at all. Not sure he understood what we where saying. Maybe he is even more lost!

[Gard]

A sus referrs to a note replacing the third in a triad, and is most often the 4th, but is also quite often the 2nd or 9th. If you have a 3rd in the chord, it would be called an add 9, to give the C E G D chord it's correct name (C add 9). For it to be a C9, Cmaj9 or a Cm9 it would also have to contain the 7th (CEGBbD, CEGBD, and CEbGBbD, respectively).

[Pacman]

Originally posted by gruffpuppy
i hardly ever play a third the guitar players i usually play with are hendrix freaks and they all love the "Hendrix Chord" that maj/min flat 7 thing.

The "Hendrix chord" is the Dom7#9. Got to be one of my favorite chords

[Boplicity]

To muddy the waters a bit, Mark Levine in "The Jazz Theory Book" defines a sus chord in his glossary as: "A dominant 7th chord in which the fourth does not act like an "avoid" note."

Levine defines an "avoid note" as: "A note from the scale of the chord that sounds dissonant when held against the chord. It usually refers to the fourth of a major chord and the eleventh of a dominant chord."

jo

[Chris A]

Um, not to reopen a can of worms, especially in my own forum, but the suspension chord implies that the suspended chord resolves, so usually the difference between the C9th and the Csus2 would probably lie in what chord follows it. The Csus2 would resolve to a C major chord, whereas the C9 would probably just pass to a different chord.


Any thoughts?

Chris A.

[Basswou]

hello there !

thanks for al the answers ! I understand it now !
This sus 2 thing was new to me , it wasn't explaned in my chord book.
The reason why I didn't answer anymore was because I was sleeping => I 'm a belgian
* central european time *