Suspended Chords

I covered major and minor chords in a previous lesson. A suspended chord is what you get when you take a major or minor chord and replace the interval of the third with another interval.

To review, here are the interval formulas for major and minor chords.

(You can refer back to my intervals lesson if you don’t remember what the interval names mean.)

You’ll notice that the two chord formulas only differ in the second note added, which is an interval of either a major third or a minor third. So if you take that out there is nothing to distinguish a major chord from a minor chord. In fact, a suspended chord is neither major nor minor. This makes them very useful, since they can be played anywhere a major or minor chord would be played. The most common intervals to substitute for the third are the perfect fourth and the major second.

Never mind why they’re called “suspended.” They don’t really hang from the ceiling or anything like that.

Suspended fourth chords

A suspended fourth chord has the following formula.

• root, perfect fourth, perfect fifth

It’s as if you took a major chord and replaced the major third with a perfect fourth. (Or you could take a minor chord and replace the minor third with the perfect fourth.) So, for example, an A suspended fourth chord, written as Asus4 (or sometimes just Asus), has the notes A, D, and E. Here is one way to play it.

• See more ways to play Asus4 using the Chorderator.
• See how to play Csus4 using the Chorderator.
• See how to play Dsus4 using the Chorderator.

Suspended second chords

A suspended second chord has the following formula.

• root, major second, perfect fifth

Again, it’s as if you took a major or minor chord, and removed the interval of a third, either major or minor. This time, the third was replaced with the major second. For example, an A suspended second chord, written as Asus2, has the notes A, B, and E. Here is one way to play it.

• See more ways to play Asus2 using the Chorderator.
• See how to play Csus2 using the Chorderator.
• See how to play Dsus2 using the Chorderator.

When to use them

Suspended chords can be very useful in songwriting. You can substitute a suspended chord for either a major chord or a minor chord, since suspended chords are neither major nor minor. They are very much like power chords in that way.

It’s also fun to switch back and forth suspended chords and regular chords. This can make it sound like you’re playing both rhythm and lead guitar at the same time. It’s a technique that’s been used in a ton of songs, from Led Zeppelin’s Tangerine to The Beatles’ You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away. From Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ to The Indigo Girls’ Galileo.

Here’s a simple example, in tablature.

  D                 Dsus4            D               Dsus2
E +-2======-2==-2==-3======-3==-3==+-2======-2==-2==-0======-0==-0==+
B |-3======-3==-3==-3======-3==-3==|-3======-3==-3==-3======-3==-3==|
G |-2======-2==-2==-2======-2==-2==|-2======-2==-2==-2======-2==-2==|
D |-0======-0==-0==-0======-0==-0==|-0======-0==-0==-0======-0==-0==|
A |--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
E +--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
	

• Hear the example
• Hear a more complex example

Have fun with these

Knowing a few suspended chords, especially A and D, can really expand your guitar-playing possibilities. Practice going back and forth between suspended and “normal” chords. Try them next time you’re playing a song, to add more interest to the rhythm guitar. And most of all, have fun!