Arriving Early with Sus2 Chords
Discovering new ways to connect neighboring harmonies.
What is a Sus2 Chord?
There are two times of “suspension” chords. When we thing about suspending, we use the meaning “to hang”. So what is hanging? Well, in a major and minor chord we have a root note, which is any note, and a “fifth” which is the note that is a three and a half steps above the root note. You can also think of this as the fifth note of a scale where the root note starts the scale. To complete the major or minor chord, we add in the major-third or minor-third. These are two whole steps up from the root for major and a step and a half up for minor.
The suspension comes in when we move either “third” up to the fourth or down to the second degree of a scale. So in terms of C as the root, E and E♭ are the major and minor thirds. Moving either note up to the fourth connects us to the note F. A chord of C-F-G is commonly notated as Csus, but I like to include Csus4 to be clear for those that are just getting into music. While some people may prefer the short hand “sus”, either way is fine by me because they convey the same idea.
Today we’ll focus on the other suspension chord, the sus2. This is where we take either third and move it down tot he second. A chord using C-D-G would be notated as Csus2. This time the number two is needed to specify that this is not a sus or sus4. If you have an instrument lying around, pick out a few random major and minor chords and turn them into sus2 chords so that you can try out some of next few ideas on your own.
Leading to a Minor Chord
In minor scales we typically see Secondary Dominants leading to a Minor Tonic. All this means is that if we are in B Minor Scale, then Bm (B minor: B-D-F#) is our Tonic chord because it starts the scale. The fifth chord in that scale is F#m (F#-A-C#) or F#m7 (F#-A-C#-E) if we extend our three note F#m into a four note F#m7. To make a “dominant” chord out of the fifth chord of a minor scale, we need to adjust one note. A is the note that makes F# chords begin to act as minor chords, so raising that to A# makes it major. When we use F#m7, the “7th” note is the note E, which is what we need to make a major chord become a dominant chord. So… F#7 (F#-A#-C#-E) is easily accessible in B Minor Scale by raising A to A#. That chord helps lead us to Bm as the Tonic chord.
But that can get REALLY boring after a while.
To lead to Bm we can also use Asus2. In B Minor Scale we have the chord A (A-C#-E). By lowering the third of A, which is C#, down to B we get Asus2 (A-B-E). Playing Asus2 and then Bm allows us to arrive a little early on the tonic note of B because that note is in both chords. So, let’s put that into some context.
The audio clip below uses the chords the following chords from the B Minor Scale.
Bm (B-D-F#) is the i chord.
G△ (G-B-D-F#) is the ♭VI chord.
Asus2 (A-B-E) is the ♭VII chord.
There’s a little melody thrown in there, but the main idea is that we start on Bm and then use G△ to put a new root note under Bm (compare the notes above for Bm and G△ and you’ll see that G△ contains Bm). The root of G is moved up to A and then up to B. Along the way we use Asus2 are the harmony between G△ and Bm because the “sus2” of A is our tonic note: B. Take a listen.
Audio Example 1
| Bm G△ | Asus2 Bm |
| Bm G△ | Asus2 Bm |
| Asus2 Bm |
Leading to a Major Chord
In Major Scales we do not have a chord that is a whole step below the tonic. In B Major scale we would still need Asus2 as the ♭VII chord. The closest we have in B Major is G#m7 or A#m7♭5. Both chords have root notes that are a half-step away from A.
Luckily for us, music theory is not about rules or what to do. Theory is really about what you can do along with ideas of how to make it all happen.
Since Asus2 is part of B Minor, we can borrow it into B Major. This works through “parallel scales”. B Major and B Minor are two different scales, but they start on the same notes which causes the rest of the notes in each scale to run “parallel” to each other. Whenever we borrow from another scale, we saying our listener that one scale is the framework for our song, but this other structure is also true. A way of thinking about this is by saying B Major has a nice field with trees and clouds, but B Minor helps us color the distance with a little rain and add the calm sound of wind on grass to our foreground. The sky, field, and trees are our main framework, but oh how a little bit of laid back minor wind and rain can help color things.
The next audio example uses following chords to create a similar root movement to the first example.
B△ (B-D#-F#-C#) is the I chord.
G#m7 (G#-B-D#-F#) is the vi chord.
Asus2 (A-B-E) is the ♭VII chord.
The rhythm is changed to a laid-back style so that we get some relaxing context for our parallel minor chord of Asus2, which helps to take the “brightness” that is often found in major keys and mellow it out. We still have a G-note, which is G# this time. That note moves up to A and then to B to create a similar root movement as the first example. The big take-away from this is that the relaxing “feel” comes from the I and vi chords. Both chords start a tonic of a scale. Te be more specific, B Major Scale’s tonic chord is B△ while G# Minor Scale’s tonic chord is G#m7. Both of these scales share the same root. We would have played these two chords back and forth in a vamp to create a relaxed feeling, but the rhythm plus the Asus2 as a borrowed chord from the parallel minor of B Minor is enough to have the feeling of a lazy afternoon.
Audio Example 2
| B△ G#m7 | Asus2 B△ |
| B△ G#m7 | Asus2 B△ |
| Asus2 B△ |
If you enjoy lessons like this, please leave a comment. Reader feedback really helps me to focus on what is important to you. If there’s more you want me to talk about or other topics you want to discuss, then please leave a comment and/or send me a message. Many lessons have spawned from reader’s questions and I’m all ears. Lame musical “ears” pun intended.
Leading Up a Whole Step
Now that we’ve seen how to move to a minor or major tonic, it’s time to lead up a whole step to whatever we want. The sus2 chord form uses a root and a note that is a whole step above it. This whole time we have been targeting the note that is a whole step up for the root of the sus2 chords.
The last example is in B Major scale, but this time we’re going to use a little more of B Minor scale to create a broader sense of movement. Here’s the chords that we’ll use. This may seem like a long list, but we’re using sus2 chords and the parallel minor to make some magic happen.
B△ (B-D#-F#-C#) is the I chord.
C#m7 (C#-E-G#-B) is the ii chord.
C#sus2 (C#-D#-B) is another form of the ii chord.
D#m7 (D#-F#-A#-C#) is the iii chord.
D△ (D-F#-A-C# is the ♭III chord borrowed from the parallel minor.
Dsus2 (D-E-A) is another form of the ♭III chord.
E△ (E-G#-B-D#) is the IV chord.
Em7 (E-G-B-D) is the iv chord borrowed from the parallel minor.
A (A-C#-E) is the ♭VII chord borrowed from the parallel minor.
Asus2 (A-B-E) is another form of the ♭VII chord.
The way the last example works is by playing the I, ii, iii, and IV chord before returning to the I chord. It’s a simple climb. The other chords help create movement and connect everything together. Here’s how each part works.
B△ moves up to C#m7, which is then played as a C#sus2 to target D#m7.
The root and fifth of D#m7 are moved down a half-step to access D△, which is then played as Dsus2 to target E△.
E△ is the IV and playing it as Em7 creates the beginning of a iv to I cadence.
Em7 is also the “ii of” A7. Instead of playing a dominant chord, we use A (A-C#-E).
“Em7 to A” is already propelling our ears to B, so turning A into Asus2 only reinforces that movement. Rather than ending on Bm as part of the parallel scale, we arrive at B△ to complete our journey and state that we were in a major scale this whole time.
Audio Example 3
| B△ C#m7 | C#sus2 D#m7 | D△ Dsus2 | E△ |
| Em7 A | A Asus2 | B△ | Asus2 B△ |
Thanks for reading and listening! Have fun with those sus2 chords. Until next time!
