Sus Chord Grips

Music Theory Quadad Chord Theory (4 Note Chords)
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Let's get some Sus chords under your fingers!


View the full lesson at Sus Chord Grips | JustinGuitar

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Did I get the right answers to the “food for thought” questions?

  • On the Csus2/4, I have muted the thinnest string. Leaving it open usually sounds fine but is not right theoretically. Why?
    The open thinnest string is the note E, which is not one of the notes in Csus2 (C D G) or Csus4 (C F G).

  • The Esus2 looks like a B Power Chord, right? How can that be?
    That is because the notes in the B power chord (B F#) are also in Esus2 (E F# B)

  • The Gsus2 has a muted 5th string - why have I done that?
    I’m less sure about this answer. It wouldn’t be theoretically wrong to have the 5th string open (A note) since Gsus2 is G A D. Though it sounds bad to my ear to have the G bass note next to the open A string in that chord. It’s also tricky to play an open 5th string with the grip shown (the 5th string tends to gets muted even if you want it open). But otherwise the Gsus2 grip is convenient for switching to Gmaj by moving finger 1 to the 2nd fret of 5th string (B note).

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The note E is the 3rd of the C chord. The definition of a sus chord is the 3rd is suspended/Replaced and replaced by the 2nd or 4th. This is why there are sus2 and sus4 chords.

It looks like a B power chord but is played using all 6 strings.
E B F# B B e

You answered you own question I just sounds better

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C = 1, 3, 5 = C, E, G
Csus2 = 1, 2, 5 = C, D, G
Csus4 = 1, 4, 5 = C, F, G

If you keep the 1, 3, 5 and bring in an extra note you need to re think the naming.

C, E, G with the addition of the note D …

Because the 3 is present, the 2 could be named as a 9 and the chord would be Cadd9. This is most commonly applied to a C chord with the note D on the 2nd string at fret 3 but it also applies to the one you describe.
Note - the ordering and pitch of these notes means the chord could also be called Cadd2.

C, E, G with the addition of the note F …

Again, the 3 is present, the 4 would therefore be named as an 11 and the chord would be Cadd11.
Note - the ordering and pitch of these notes means the chord could also be called Cadd4.

@stitch has answered this.
And you have answered your third question - if it sounds good it is good has an opposite.
:slight_smile: