Are you ready to add color and depth to your playing? Let’s talk about suspended chords!
I know you’ve seen those little 2’s and 4’s next to chords on the chart. Perhaps you’ve connected the dots and figured out that they refer to the tone number. But still they sound a little off, or muddy, when you play them. Are there tricks to playing those C2, Gsus4, Fsus2, A4 chords?
Thank you for asking!
Yes. Yes there is.
Here’s a basic rule of thumb.
If there is just a letter next to the chord, you add the tone to the existing chord. Example, using a C chord, tone 1 = C – tone 2=D – tone 3=E – tone 4=F – tone 5=G and so on. So a C chord is C, E, G. A C2 chord will add a D making it C, D, E, G.
If you see a “sus” between the chord and the number, that is a suspension. Instead of playing a C, E, G, you would “suspend” (or replace) the 3rd tone=E with the 2nd tone=D. So the chord will be C, D, G.
The same principle holds true across all 4ths as well. A C4 would be C, E, F, G and a Csus4 would be C, F, G.
Easy right?
It sounds pretty simple but there are still some rules to be aware of. The suspension chords are easy and sound great as is, but when you add a 2 or 4 to an existing chord, the resulting sound is rather muddy or dissonant.
To keep that from happening, you will want to use inversions. Move the 3rd away from the 2nd, don’t play them right next to each other.
Another option is to drop the 3rd entirely, but that will basically transform the chord into a 2nd suspension, which is usually ok. Pay attention to what you hear in the recording of the song you’re learning and see if the mild dissonance is present. If you can’t tell the difference, then swapping a C2 for a Csus2 is going to be fine 99% of the time.
Weekly Challenge 💪🏻
Take all the chords in the key of C and add a “sus2” and “sus4” to each of them! See how it sounds. Then add a 2 and 4 to each of them and pay attention to the dissonance it adds to keep the 3rd in each chord. See if you can alleviate some of the dissonance by inverting the 3rd and moving it away from the 2nd or 4th addition.
Practice that this week and then post a video of your work on Takeaway Tuesday.
Drill of the Week! 🎶
This week we’re going to learn a new Hanon exercise!
CLICK HERE to view the demonstration
Be sure to play slowly and steadily in the beginning. Don’t pick up the speed until you can play the whole thing without mistakes!
Practice this exercise 1x daily.
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