Lets talk tension and our friend the Sus2 and Sus4 chords ok?????

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Digital Jams

Digital Jams

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So I was reading my GP last night and one of the lessons was the Sus2 and Sus4 chords.

Take a CMaj progression say CMaj7 - FMaj7 - Gm7......So if I play this 1-5-4 I am throwing a Sus2 in place of the FMaj7 to cause tension....is this correct theory wise??

It sounds freaking freaking cool to my ears, is this something one would use for say a improv jam???

I am digging the Sus big time.
 
         
Digital Jams":77f39 said:
So I was reading my GP last night and one of the lessons was the Sus2 and Sus4 chords.

Take a CMaj progression say CMaj7 - FMaj7 - Gm7......So if I play this 1-5-4 I am throwing a Sus2 in place of the FMaj7 to cause tension....is this correct theory wise??

It sounds freaking freaking cool to my ears, is this something one would use for say a improv jam???

I am digging the Sus big time
Click to expand...

Weird progression, yet interesting. A sus2 chord can be subbed for a major7. Sus 2 contains same notes only no 3rd, and obviously the "2'. A sus2 can also be subbed for a minor chord as well, since there is no 3rd to conflict with the minor sound it works fine.[/
 
So now is it weird because it does not jive with conventional theory? I have to say that I was digging it but was not sure why I was digging it from a tone perspective.
 
So I guess the question is this......

Is the use of the Sus chord a good way to create tension?
 
         
Digital Jams":268e4 said:
So now is it weird because it does not jive with conventional theory? I have to say that I was digging it but was not sure why I was digging it from a tone perspective.
Click to expand...
It's weird because the progression doesn't resolve...neither with the Fsus2 to Gm, nor the Fmaj7 to the Gm.
So...if you just see it as a C vamp cycling around, then it's perfectly fine. But if you're asking about tension...the Gm wants to go some place...like to a Gmajor. a Bbmajor, etc...anything that'll lead back to Cmaj7.
Also to me the sus2 makes it have even less tension since the chord is totally ambigious.

Are you actually playing maj7 chords or just major triads?
In that case you'd have V-ii-I in F.
 
         
degenaro":f9f96 said:
         
It's weird because the progression doesn't resolve...neither with the Fsus2 to Gm, nor the Fmaj7 to the Gm.
So...if you just see it as a C vamp cycling around, then it's perfectly fine. But if you're asking about tension...the Gm wants to go some place...like to a Gmajor. a Bbmajor, etc...anything that'll lead back to Cmaj7.
Also to me the sus2 makes it have even less tension since the chord is totally ambigious.

Are you actually playing maj7 chords or just major triads?
In that case you'd have V-ii-I in F.
Click to expand...

Maj7 Chords and I see what I did, the V should have been a major.....hence John's reply. Hey I was going out of the box :)

Resolve, now that is one of the terms that is throwing me off. So if I am on Gmaj7 you are saying to add tension I need to resolve that chord the right way to add tension?

So if I change the Gm7 to a GMaj7 does the Fsus4 resolve? Just tried it and it sounds hip to me.
 
         
Digital Jams":c9eeb said:
         

Maj7 Chords and I see what I did, the V should have been a major.....hence John's reply. Hey I was going out of the box :)

Resolve, now that is one of the terms that is throwing me off. So if I am on Gmaj7 you are saying to add tension I need to resolve that chord the right way to add tension?

So if I change the Gm7 to a GMaj7 does the Fsus4 resolve? Just tried it and it sounds hip to me.
Click to expand...
Well now you have 3 major chords...as in Cmaj7-Fmaj7-Gmaj7...as a rule of thumb any major can be followed by ANY major.
Using the sus won't change that.
The resolution you're missing is from G back to C, you'd want a garden variety G chord or G7 for that.
The Fsus is half a G7 anyways...
For what's it worth follow the Fsus2 with a Gsus4 to the C.

And most importantly if it sounds hip...it is.
 
So we are talking a II-V-I progression and we are using the Maj7 chords with Sus chords. I will try that tonight.

So this should be correct then......

For a Major chord progression the Sus2 and Sus4 chords can be used due to no conflicts with the 3rd from a Maj7.

Can I bank this?

This is pretty cool :)
 
         
degenaro":92254 said:
         


And most importantly if it sounds hip...it is.
Click to expand...

yes. things can sound weird AND cool! :wink:
 
         
Digital Jams":6c203 said:
So we are talking a II-V-I progression and we are using the Maj7 chords with Sus chords. I will try that tonight.

So this should be correct then......

For a Major chord progression the Sus2 and Sus4 chords can be used due to no conflicts with the 3rd from a Maj7.

Can I bank this?

This is pretty cool :)
Click to expand...
II-V-I would be G-C-F. And if you want it with 7s it really should be...
Gm7-C7-Fmaj7 or Gm-C-F

As for the sus...
has nothing to do with the 7 aspect of the chord. If you're in C major your chords are Cmaj, Dm, Em, Fmaj, Gmaj, Am,B half dim.
If you replace the 3rd with a 9(sus2) your notes change from
e to d on the C
f to e on the Dm
g to f# on the Em
a to g on the F
b to g on the G
c to b on the Am
d to c on the B half dim
So...it's a no go on the Em, and B half dim since those are outside of the the key. unless you want to account for that.

on sus4 you get...
e to f on the C
f to g on the Dm
g to a on the Em
a to b on the F
b to c on the G
c to d on the Am
d to e on the B half dim
So now go on the F and B...unless you want to go outside of the key.
 
         
degenaro":a0800 said:
         
II-V-I would be G-C-F. And if you want it with 7s it really should be...
Gm7-C7-Fmaj7 or Gm-C-F

As for the sus...
has nothing to do with the 7 aspect of the chord. If you're in C major your chords are Cmaj, Dm, Em, Fmaj, Gmaj, Am,B half dim.
If you replace the 3rd with a 9(sus2) your notes change from
e to d on the C
f to e on the Dm
g to f# on the Em
a to g on the F
b to g on the G
c to b on the Am
d to c on the B half dim
So...it's a no go on the Em, and B half dim since those are outside of the the key. unless you want to account for that.

on sus4 you get...
e to f on the C
f to g on the Dm
g to a on the Em
a to b on the F
b to c on the G
c to d on the Am
d to e on the B half dim
So now go on the F and B...unless you want to go outside of the key.
Click to expand...

If the root was F yes that is what I would do, I was tacking C :) C is just easier to type out with the # and b's so I just use C.

The 9th, why state 9th instead of the 2nd? Sus2 = 3 flatted to the 2nd right?

No shred tonight, chords only! Well maybe one or two blasts :D
 
         
Digital Jams":85e3d said:
         

If the root was F yes that is what I would do, I was tacking C :) C is just easier to type out with the # and b's so I just use C.

The 9th, why state 9th instead of the 2nd? Sus2 = 3 flatted to the 2nd right?

No shred tonight, chords only! Well maybe one or two blasts :D
Click to expand...
Why call it 9? Because I use the minor or major second interval as the 9. But yes it is a second.
 
I like to use suspended chords to extend chords to fill space and still leave the sound a little more amibiguous. You guys would have a field day tearing apart the things that I do with chords. :crazy:
 
         
orangekick":99ab1 said:
I like to use suspended chords to extend chords to fill space and still leave the sound a little more amibiguous. You guys would have a field day tearing apart the things that I do with chords. :crazy:
Click to expand...

like ed D and ed VH have said...


if it sounds good, it IS good.
 
I thought sus4 chords use the 4th scale, sus2 use the 2nd notes instead of the major or minor third like you would find in triads, maj7 or min7's....

I think they sound really cool, still not up to snuff on the proper substitutions for it's use though.

I've really only used them when I was writing a chord progression for a song and I thought it sounded cool but wasn't completely aware of the underlying theory as to why. :?
 
         
Shiny_Surface":f529e said:
I thought sus4 chords use the 4th scale, sus2 use the 2nd notes instead of the major or minor third like you would find in triads, maj7 or min7's....

I think they sound really cool, still not up to snuff on the proper substitutions for it's use though.

I've really only used them when I was writing a chord progression for a song and I thought it sounded cool but wasn't completely aware of the underlying theory as to why. :?
Click to expand...

That makes two of us.....I like how the Sus resolves to a major chord.

Yeah I am getting this resolves word bitches :x

Now if I can nail my crazy Maj7 into a Sus4 chord I am set :cry:
 
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