Sus Chords – What Every Guitarist Needs To Know

There’s a sneaky little chord that comes up in many songs. And if you’re a guitarist who wants to play all your favorite songs, then you might want to know about it. It’s called a “sus” chord.

In this post, I want to reveal some insider tips on what every guitarist needs to know about sus chords and how you can start playing them like a pro today.

Let’s get started with…

What are suspended chords?

Many guitarists I’ve spoken with over the years think that “sus” stands for sustained. But it actually stands for suspended. 

A suspended chord is a type of chord that on guitar typically replaces the 3rd note of the chord with the 2nd or 4th degree from the scale. Suspended chords in music create an unresolved feeling. They give the music a slight sense of tension and anticipation.

They can be applied to simple major and minor chords, as well as sophisticated jazz chords. In a typical major or minor chord, the third note determines the quality of the triad. Whether the chord sounds happy (major) or sad (minor). In a suspended chord, this third is replaced, so this takes away the chord’s definitive mood. It creates a more ambiguous sound.

There are two main types of suspended chords:

• Sus2 Chord: This chord replaces the third with the second degree of the scale.
• Sus4 Chord: This chord replaces the third with the fourth degree of the scale. 

Let’s next talk about…

How to build sus chords

A major chord chord is built from the root, third, and fifth scale degrees of the major scale. For example, a D major scale uses the notes D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#.

Here are the root, third, and fifth scale degrees in a D major chord:

Root (D) – The anchor note that establishes the key.

3rd (F#) – The defining note that determines whether the chord is major or minor.

5th (A) – The foundational note that adds depth and fullness to the chord's sound.

Here is a simple way to play this chord on the fretboard from the 4th string down:

Following this simple formula is how a major chord is built. Now, there is a common myth out there about sus chords. And that’s that you completely remove the 3rd from the chord. Generally, you do this, especially in the most common guitar chord voicings (like we are going to do with the chord above next). But according to theory, the note can still be in the chord and is of course, still in the scale. 

If you struggled to understand chords on the neck and navigate the fretboard for rhythm and lead then get your hands on my free fretboard guide PDF right here:

For our purposes, we will be removing the 3rd and replacing it with either the 4th or the 2nd scale degrees. So let’s start by building a sus4 chord. 

We’ll take our core formula for a major chord (root, third, fifth) and replace the third with the 4th scale degree. So again, a D major scale uses the notes D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#. The root and fifth will stay the same. But now, we’ll replace the note F# with the note G. This gives us these notes: 

Root (D) – The root note that establishes the key.

4th (G) – This is the 4th note of the D major scale and gives you an immediate suspended sound.

5th (A) – The foundational note that adds depth and fullness to the chord's sound. 

Right away you’ll hear this chord has a fresh sound. It is also more ambiguous. If you just hear these notes out of context, you can’t tell if the core triad is major or minor. It’s simply SUS. Because we’ve added the note G to the chord, which is the 4th note in the D major scale, this chord would be called a D suspended 4th and is written as Dsus4. Here is an easy way to play this chord:

It's important to note that when someone says "sus" the most common chord they are referring to is a sus4 chord. Sometimes just the plain "sus" is used in place of the full sus4 notation. So if you see a chord written as Dsus. This most commonly means Dsus4. Another important point about sus chords is that in most popular music, when they happen, they tend to resolve.

Here are a few examples of this:

Free Fallin - Tom Petty

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The first 2 chords of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ move from a tonic chord, to a suspended and then back. Using many suspended chords fights perfectly with the lyrics and almost creates the feeling of falling or floating through the air.

Sus chords can be applied to other chords as well, for example, you could have a dominant seventh chord with a sus4 triad as the base. Here is a great example of that sound:

Also appearing in “Here Comes The Sun” is a sus2 chord. Let’s talk about those next. 

For a suspended 2 chord, we’ll take our core formula for a major chord (root, third, fifth) and replace the third with the 2nd scale degree. So again, a D major scale uses the notes D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C#. The root and fifth will stay the same. But now, we’ll replace the note F# with the note E. This gives us these notes: 

Root (D) – The root note that establishes the key.

2nd (E) – This is the 2nd note of the D major scale and gives you an immediate suspended 2 sound.

5th (A) – The foundational note that adds depth and fullness to the chord's sound.  

Right away you’ll hear this chord has a fresh sound. It’s also ambiguous like the suspended 4th chord because it lacks the 3rd. The 3rd is a very defining note. If you heard only these notes out of context. Again, you can’t tell if the core triad is major or minor. It’s a sus2 chord. 

Because we’ve added the note E to the chord, which is the 2nd note in the D major scale, this chord would be called a D suspended 2 and is written as Dsus2.

Here is an easy way to play this chord:

To me this chord has an open and airy sound to it. One of my favorite rock guitar players Andy Summers uses this chord quality quite often in many famous Police songs. He would often break up the notes into arpeggios here are two examples of songs that do that: 

1. “Every Breath You Take”:

2. “Message In A Bottle”:

Conclusion:

To wrap it up, suspended chords are a powerful tool every guitarist should have in their arsenal. Suspended chords offer a unique way to add tension, anticipation, and a touch of ambiguity to your music. Whether you're working with a sus2 or a sus4, these chords can transform a simple progression into something much more dynamic and interesting. 

By understanding how to build and apply these chords, you can bring a fresh and distinctive sound to your playing, just like the greats who have used them in countless iconic songs. 

So, keep practicing, and if you want to learn songs way faster, better understand the fretboard, and not waste years spinning your wheels with guitar, grab my free fretboard guide right here now:  

Jon MacLennan