What Are Suspended Guitar Chords?
A suspended chord is a chord that creates a subtle harmonic tension by adding an extra note that sounds like it wants to resolve back to the original chord. You can hear their use in most types of music. Usually, this extra note replaces the 3rd. As an example, an Esus chord resolves back to E. As a general rule you should always please the ear by resolving the suspended chord back to the original chord.
There are two types of suspended chords:
Suspended 2nd
The suspended 2nd is often labeled as “sus2”. The extra note in this chords is the 2nd (2nd step of the major scale).
Suspended 4th
The suspended 4th is labeled as “sus4” (or sometimes just “sus”). The extra note (you guessed it) is the 4th.
Playing Suspended Guitar Chords
Learning how to play suspended chords is easy if you already know your basic chord shapes. In the video below I’ll show you how to play them. Be sure to download the PDF file located below the video for all the music pertaining to the video!
Suspended Guitar Chords Notation
The PDF file linked below contains tablature and traditional music notation that details how to play suspended chords for A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.
Suspended Chords PDF
Suspended chords are an important part of many songs that you’ll come across, so if you want to play these songs properly you’ll want to be sure to learn these suspended chords.