Sus & Add chords and chord extensions

mike_l

SUS CHORDS

 

As a little extra to my post on Major/minor chord formulas the other week.

To make a chord a Sus chord, the third is replaced with either a 2nd or 4th.

So a C major chord is C-E-G

C Sus2 is C-D-G

C sus4 is C-F-G

 

ADD CHORDS

an Add chord has all three notes from the original chord, and an extra note (commonly - not exclusively- 9th)

Cadd9 is C-E-G-D

CHORD EXTENSIONS

 

To extend a chord from a standard major or minor triad, take the 3 original notes 

Major 1-3-5

and put another 3rd on top of the 5th

Major 1-3-5-7

So in the case of C

C major is  C-E-G 

Cmajor7 is C-E-G-B

the next chord in C major is Dminor

D-F-A

using the same theory (putting another 3rd on top if the fifth) gives us

D-F-A-C

which is a Dm7 chord, or a Dm (dominant)7

The difference between the two is the 7th in the Major 7th is a semi-tone (one fret) down from the root note,in the dominant 7 the 7th is 2 semi-tones (two frets) down from the root note.

bigjon

Very clear explanation of the difference between a sus2 and an add9. Good work that man!

mike_l

@bigjon ; why thank you sir.

Clarky

Just a little fun – why is a suspended chord, called a suspended chord?

for those of you that are not sure, the clue is in the fact that the 3rd 'appears' to be missing

mike_l

@Clarky, that's new to me at least. Have a wisdom.

digitalkettle

mike_l said:

...using the same theory (putting another 3rd on top if the fifth) gives us

D-F-A-C

which is a Dm7 chord, or a Dm (dominant)7

The difference between the two is the 7th in the Major 7th is a semi-tone (one fret) down from the root note,in the dominant 7 the 7th is 2 semi-tones (two frets) down from the root note.

This is a little confused: 'Dominant 7th' is the name of this chord formula: 1 3 5 b7.

In a Cmaj7 chord [1 3 5 7], the interval between the chord's root and the 'B' note is a major seventh.

In a Dmin7 chord [1 b3 5 b7], the interval between the chord's root and the 'C' note is a minor seventh.

...

In a G7 chord (dominant 7) [1 3 5 b7], the interval between the chord's root and the 'F' note is also a minor seventh.

mike_l

Thank you for clearing that up @digitalkettle, I knew I'd missed something

Phil_aka_Pip

Dominants are so-called because they are formed when you harmonise the 5th degree of the major scale. The 5th degree is known as the Dominant, and it's the only note in the major scale that harmonises to a chord of the form R 3 5 b7. (btw other scale tones are called, Tonic, SuperTonic, Mediant, SubDominant, then there's the aforementioned Dominant, SubMediant, and LeadingNote). You also get Dominant-form chords on the 4th & 5th degrees of a Melodic Minor scale, and on the 5th degree of the Harmonic Minor scale.

Clarky

a suspension occurs [originally from classical music harmony] because a note hangs over from a previous chord

so the note that is 'hanging over' is suspended

there are three stages to a suspension

1- preparation

2 - suspension

3 - resolution

example in C

progression: C -> Gsus4 -> G -> C

individual notes played horizontally [so vertically the make the chords]

E -> D -> D -> E

C -> C -> B -> C <----- this is where the suspension is occurring

G- > G -> G -> G

C -> G -> G-> C 

1 - prep: the C is the root of the C chord. This is the note that is going to suspend. Note that it will not switch octave, it'll simply continue to sound as the notes around it change to the next chord.

2 - sus: the C continues to sound although the chord has moved to G. This G chord does not yet contain a 3rd [B in this case], rather, the C from the previous chord hangs over and sounds as a perfect 4th within the G chord. So we end up with Gsus4.

3 - res: As the G chord continues to sound, the C resolves to the note that it should be in the G chord. In this case it's the 3rd of the chord [the note B]

so in classical music, a suspension is not so much a chord as an 'event' in the middle of a progression.

it's only really in contemporary music [which uses jazz style chord theory] that names this as a chord in it's own right.

this is because in contemporary music, the suspension does not need to be prepared or resolved.

this being the case, I personally think that describing a chord as being 'sus', in isolation and without the prep and resolution is bollocks because nothing is suspended from anywhere and it don't need to resolve.

personally I'd prefer to call the notes G, C, D [when the C has not been prep'd and don't resolve] G5 add4 or G5 add11.

that said, all modern jazz theory books, muso mags and 'guitar in a day' books refer to it as a sus4..

I can't boil the ocean or go on a crusade on behalf of the mis-naming and misuse of the sus4 and so I have to concede and call it a sus4 just so I am understood and to avoid having to explain myself to the vast bulk of the muso's on the planet [which will all flame me to shit cos they're all totally right all the time about everything cos they have 10,000 posts in harmony central]..

so here's to the mis-named, misunderstood and hugely beautiful art of suspension...

viz

Yes it's bloody annoying that sus thing.

Clarky

Mike: I think it's a little iffy describing chords like this: Major 1-3-5-7

I reckon it's better to describe a chords "spelling" in terms of its intervals with respect to the root.

a major 7 chord is spelt: root, maj3, perf5, maj7

a minor 7 chord is spelt: root, min3, perf5, min7

a dom7 chord is spelt: root maj3, perf5, min7

a m7b5 [or 1/2 dim7 to a jazzer] is spelt: root, min3, dim5, min7

a dim7 [or full dim7 to a man in a spangly jacket without a floyd rose] is spelt: root, min3, dim5, flattened min7

etc...

NOTE: a flattened minor 7th is not a major 6th even though it just happens to be the same button to press on a piano

it is a minor 7th that has been flattened

so... with respect to a root of C

a minor 7th is Bb

a flattened minor 7th is Bbb

whereas a major 6th is A

ok... so Bbb and A make the same noise [meaning that they are 'enharmonically equivalent']..

but in this context, it's a Bbb

-- I know all this is just 'grammar' and pedantic grammar at that...

but as a composer, when you're aware of this stuff you can exploit it..

Clarky

viz said:

Yes it's bloody annoying that sus thing.

from lessons I learnt studying JS Bach and the like, I came to adore the tension and release suspensions create

the way these dissonances give the music that 'sigh of relief' as they resolve..

Wagner: Siegfried's Funeral from The Ring Cycle is chocker block full of them..

and he uses them in a staggeringly beautiful way..

or JS Bach: Toccata and Fugue in Dm. Right at the end where it sounds like he's sitting on the keyboard..

it's stacks of different suspensions all clashing against each other..

and one by one he resolves them.. you can feel the tension unravelling until he ends up on a triad..

totally fkn awesome

viz

Exactly. Bach was the king of suspensions. For me it has to be the opening to st john passion. There's about 20 resolutions in the bit before the choir come in (and then it's repeated)

Clarky

funny really...

even though I'm a confirmed headbanger, I love to squeeze this sort of stuff into my music..

viz

That's the dangerous path that leads only to yngwie. Steer well clear.

Clarky

it don't have to be Baroque sounding...

all that is a little obvious..

and I do try to avoid flinging my fingers around in A harmonic minor..

well... at least these days I do... lol..

mike_l

@Clarky thanks for expanding, I was only putting it simply (mostly for my ickle brain to cope with....)

Phil_aka_Pip

I like @Clarky 's way of explaining stuff. He puts it way better than I can.

I was just wondering whether we should have a sweepstake on how long it will be before @Frankus tells us we don't need to know all this

frankus

Okay, I'll bite - seems rude not to as you've gone to the trouble of tagging me, I could pretend you were soliciting my opinion - although I'm sure there'll only be muted applause for what I've got to say

First off: it's a chord (not food, water, oxygen or company) so, given your choice of words - obviously you don't need this knowledge: you want it. I think it's very important to be able disambiguate the two.

Secondly it's one label (of many) for a sound, learn the guitar chord voicings in the approach outline in Ted Greene's books and you'll learn sound and hand position(s) bound together (as they should be)... the labels are an incidental for some other time than playing, such as in conversation. In the time I spent playing through Ted's books I found I could hear the sounds and I'd drilled the chords, so even in different keys the application of the sound made sense and I applied it with confidence of what I was going to hear.

That means in some situations a chord in one register or inversion sounds good and in other registers or inversions sounds crap - a label won't help differentiate that. Knowledge of the sound is the only thing to give that confidence.

I think for many many guitarists, what is called "theory" (which is really just notation) extends, mistakenly, to paradigms and leads to people observing these to derive music from what has been composed before which fits nicely with the guitarist psyche of embracing the old, familliar and already sanctified.

You need sus chords if you want, I'm not going to stop you

Phil_aka_Pip

B-) Cool I agree that the chord in different registers/inversions sound different (and as you say, sometimes can sound crap), but if you know how to construct one the chances are you'll find an alternative fingering, which might sound a lot better. The knowledge is worth having (IMO)

viz

The more knowledge you have, the better a guitarist you will be. Checked for accuracy and approved.