What else can i add to my chord vocabulary? (Suspended chords)

Advertisements

Are you tired from trying to figure out how to play suspended chords or "sus chords", well i'm here for you. By the end of this lesson, you'll going to be able to play any sus chord you want. While suspended triads "chords" are used a lot as one of the best songwriting techniques to add flavor to your songs, i'm going to show you the exact way to play them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/horiavarlan/4329908160/

The only thing that you're going to remember, is that sus chords doesn't have thirds (3rd) in them, that means that they are neither majors nor minors, because it's the 3rd that identifies the major and minor chords. Usually with these chords, we take away the 3rd and replace it with the 2nd or the 4th.

So:

A suspended 2nd chord (sus2) has these notes in it: 1st - 2nd - 5th
A suspended 4th chord (sus4) has these notes in it: 1st - 4th - 5th

Csus2 is: C - D - G
Csus4 is: C - F - G

That's it, try to use sus chords to expand your songwriting ideas arsenal, in order for your songs to appear non repetitive and unique.