Suspension (part 2)
May 7th, 2008 by admin
I have talked about Sus4 and how to improvise it with the 3 basic chords earlier. Sus2 is another form of suspension that can also be improvised with the 3 basic chords.
Let’s take a C chord (C Major chord) as example. A C-Sus2 chord is usually written as C2.
For a C chord, we play the 1, 3 and 5 notes (i.e., C, E, G notes) simultaneously.
For a C4 chord, we play the 1, 4 and 5 notes (i.e., C, F and G notes) simultaneously.
For a C2 chord, we play the 1, 2 and 5 notes (i.e., C, D and G notes) simultaneously.
The Sus2 chords are use very often in place of the Chord I and Chord IV. That means, in the C scale, instead of playing C (Chord I), I often play C2 instead simply because it gives a more modern sound. The same goes for the
F chord in the C scale. That is, instead of playing an F (Chord IV), I often replace it with an F2.
Figure 1: C2
Figure 2: F2
I shall talk about the improvisation of Sus2 using the 3 basic chords on my next post.
[...] 7, 2008 by Les Hmye Sus2 are usually used only on Chord I and Chord IV, so there is no need to learn Sus2 for other chords [...]
[...] what we are doing to Chord I by mixing it with Chord V is essentially producing a Chord I2 (i.e., Sus2 of Chord I) [...]
[...] 8, 2008 by Les Hmye Remember Sus4? Check out my previous posts on ‘Suspension (part 2)’ and ‘Improvising Sus4’ if necessary. Now, Sus4 is often applied to the II, III and VI major [...]
[...] C here is a C2. Refer to “Suspension (part 2)” for [...]
[...] you don’t know what a C2 is, please refer to my earlier “Suspension” [...]
[...] have seen see me play F(add2) or F2, instead of F. For further explanation of Sus2 please see my “Suspension (part 2)” [...]
[...] see “Suspension (part 2)” for IV2 and “Suspension (part 1)” for [...]
Hey admin, I think Csus2 is composed of[ C D G]
and a G4 is composed of [G C D], are they in an inversion relationship?
Then are G4 necessary?
Good point!
That’s what I mean when I told a friend, that it’s possible to simplify the playing exactly because the chords have become more complicated. LOL! Is there any relationship between C2 and G4? I really hv no idea! All I really care is that we know what they are made of, how to play them, and ALSO, when to use them. 
I think in music, different people can have different approaches and perspectives for the same thing. So, it’s more important that we understand something, be it by our own theory, or somebody else’ theory. This is my “cheat” opinion, anyway. Hehe. :b
Dear admin,
I like and appreciate your cheating theory very much. I think one of the reason is that you play the pop music with the approach bass note instead of just playing the regular chord. Your chord progression sounds more consistent with the original song while the guitar chord I found to play is not too consisent.
I think C2 and G4 is just different notation and with different emphasis.
You could be right about that C2 and G4. Thanks for your comments!