Improvising Sus2
May 7th, 2008 by admin
Sus2 are usually used only on Chord I and Chord IV, so there is no need to learn Sus2 for other chords in a scale.
So if you play in the C scale, all the sus2 chords you need to know are only C2 and F2.
And this is how you can play C2 and F2 with the 3 basic chords, without having to learn C2 and F2 from scratch.
For C2, play C as your bass note with the left hand, accompanied by a G chord with your right hand. That resulting sound is very much like C2. (This combination is also referred to as G/C, read “G on C”)
Figure 1: C2
For F2, play F as your bass note with the left hand, accompanied by a C chord with your right hand. That resulting sound is very much like F2. (This combination is also referred to as C/F, read “C on F”)
Figure 2: F2
In general, in any key, you can do the same thing. That is, to implement Chord I2 (i.e., sus2 of Chord I), simply play note 1 (the “doe” note) as your bass and accompany it with Chord V on your right hand.
And to implement Chord IV2 (i.e., sus2 of chord IV), simply play note 4 (the “fa” note) as your bass and accompany it with Chord I on your right hand.
See? Most songs can be played using the 3 basic chords!
