I find I'm always at a loss when soloing over sus7 chords. What do you guys generally do? I always just play them as if they were normal dominants but it never sounds any good.
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Double Bass sus7 chords
- Thread starter Kitschead
- Start date
They are commonly thought of as a sort of "mini ii/V" and played as a slash chord with that structure -- e.g. Gsus7 = Dm7/G in the key of C.
Maybe that helps??
- Jul 8, 2009
- 1,612
- 11
- Disclosures
- A&R, Soulless Corporation Records
It functions as a dominant usually, so the least tension would result from the mixolydian scale, so long as you don't emphasive the major 3rd. Personally, I might use a phrygian tonality over it.
So for F7(sus4), scale choices might include:
Just like you get a bad sound emphasizing a perfect 4th against a major chord, you should typically avoid emphasizing the major 3rd against a Sus4 chord. Generally, the 5th is perfect in a sus chord, so you may want to think twice about the tritone.
Of course the best way to know is to find out what you like.
So for F7(sus4), scale choices might include:
- F mixolydian - Jamey Aebersold suggests this
- F phrygian - Can give a function of F7b9(sus4), similar to an F7b9
- Any other scale with a perfect 5th and 4th
Just like you get a bad sound emphasizing a perfect 4th against a major chord, you should typically avoid emphasizing the major 3rd against a Sus4 chord. Generally, the 5th is perfect in a sus chord, so you may want to think twice about the tritone.
Of course the best way to know is to find out what you like.
How do you approach soloing? Which note in the chord of the moment do you like to start with. Do you run patterns, broken 3rds, scales, invent melodies, use enclosures (e.g., IV|VI|V), rhythmic figures, combinations of any of those?
I always think of sus7 as the 2nd mode of a Maj6. So for me, Gsus7 is the 2nd mode of Fmaj6. It helps me keep track of the notes on the fretboard. I do the same things with it as I would another chord/scale.
Does that make sense?
