Sus2 chords

Sus2 chords are formed by replacing the third (the second note in the chord) with the second interval. In addition to sus2 there is sus4, which is somewhat more common. If you see instructions to play a chord as Esus or Asus it's usually not sus2 but sus4 chords. Sus2 is also often played exactly as add2 chords.

Sus2 chords replace the third of a major or minor chord with the second, creating a suspended sound. The third should not be understood as the third tone in the chord, but the third interval. In the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), the third note is E and the second is D.

Chord theory in depth

Sus2 chords replace the third of a major or minor chord with the second, creating a suspended sound. The third should not be understood as the third tone in the chord, but the third interval. In the C major scale (C, D, E, F, G, A, B), the third note is E and the second is D.

A comparison:

C major chord: C - E - G
C minor chord: C - Eb - G
Csus2 chord: C - D - G

As seen in the comparison above, it is the second note in the chord that changes. It is a major third interval in the major chord, a minor third interval in the minor chord and a second interval in the sus2 chord.

Sus2

Comments

Esus2 has no shape that is close to the major. For Gsus2, also XX0033, which is primarily an option to or from Gm (xx0333). Other options for Gsus2 are 300233 and 3X0233.

The shift from the original major chord to the sus chord is sometimes easily done. Below you can see that the difference from a major chord to its "sus2 version" is small:

C chord diagram X32010 Csus2 chord diagram
C major Csus2

There are two differences: 1) on the fourth string, the tone shifts from E to D, 2) you don't play the highest open string because it's an E note. When shifting from C to Csus2 you only need to lift the long finger and you don't move the rest of the fingers.

Chord construction

Csus2 x - C - D - G - C - x
Dsus2 x - x - D - A - D - E
Esus2 E - B - F# - B - B - E
Fsus2 x - x - F - G - C - F
Gsus2 x - A - D - G - D - G
Asus2 x - A - E - A - B - E
Bsus2 x - B - F# - B - C# - F#
Guitar versions of the chord

Notes in chord

Csus2 C - D - G
Dsus2 D - E - A
Esus2 E - F# - B
Fsus2 F - G - C
Gsus2 G - A - D
Asus2 A - B - E
Bsus2 B - C# - F#
The intervals are 1 – 2 – 5

Chord progressions

The Tom Petty song "Feel A Whole Lot Better" makes use of sus chords in a riff:

A - Asus2 - A - Asus4 - A - Asus2 - A

The song also includes the chords E, F#m, B, Bm, D and G.

More examples of progressions including a sus2 chord:

F - Fsus2 - F - C - Csus2 - C

G - Gsus2 - G - Csus2 - D

Dm - Dsus2 - Fmaj7 - Am7 - Csus2

Bm - Bsus2 - Bm - Bsus2 - F#m

There are no Amsus2, Bmsus2, Cmsus2 chords and so on, but as seen in some of the progressions above, it's possible to combine minor chords with suspended 2nd chords as well.

Suspended 2nd chord inversions

A sus2 chord is possible to play in numerous configurations including two inversions.

Csus2 can be used as an example:

C - D - G (root position)
D - G - C (1st inversion)
G - C - D (2nd inversion)

The first inversion of the Csus2 chord is written Csus2/D and the second is written Csus2/G. Fingerings follow below in short notation:

Csus2/D: XX001X
Csus2/G: 33001X
Dsus2/E: 000230
Dsus2/A: X00230
Esus2/B: X24400
Esus2/F#: XX4400
Fsus2/G: XXX011
Fsus2/C: X33011
Gsus2/A: X00033
Gsus2/D: XX0233
Asus2/B: X22200
Asus2/E: XX2200
Bsus2/C#: X444XX
Bsus2/F#: XX442X

The connection between sus2 and sus4

The sus2 and sus4 chord types are the most common suspended chords. Actually, sus2 can be seen as an inversion of sus4:

Csus2 (C-D-G) shares the same notes as Gsus4 (G-C-D)
Dsus2 (D-E-A) shares the same notes as Asus4 (A-D-E)
Esus2 (E-F#-B) shares the same notes as Bsus4 (B-E-F#)
Fsus2 (F-G-C) shares the same notes as Csus4 (C-F-E)
Gsus2 (G-A-D) shares the same notes as Dsus4 (D-G-A)
Asus2 (A-B-E) shares the same notes as Esus4 (E-A-B)
Bsus2 (B-C#-F#) shares the same notes as F#sus4 (F#-B-C#)

Back to sus chords

Sus2 chords

Sus2

Csus2

Dsus2

Esus2

Fsus2

Gsus2

Asus2