Sus Chords Supplement · 2019. 5. 8. · 2 Application of Basic Sus Voicing to ‘Over The...
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Sus Voicings Lesson Supplement www.pianogroove.com Sus Chords Introduction • ‘Sus’ is shorthand for ‘suspended’ and it refers to the 4 th which is said to be ‘suspended’ in the chord. • The simplest way to demonstrate this is to play a major triad and raise the 3 rd to the 4 th . Voicing Sus Chords with 2 Hands • The easiest way to voice a sus chord over 2 hands is to play the root in your left hand and play a major triad built from the b7. You could also look at this as a major triad a whole step below the root: • This gives you R, 7, 9, 11, which is a C9sus chord as the 9 th is the highest extension in the chord. • We can play the triad in any of its 3 inversions. Just like upper structure triads, the triad on top will sound strongest in its second inversion. We can also add notes in our left hand and double notes in our right hand to get a bigger voicing:
Transcript of Sus Chords Supplement · 2019. 5. 8. · 2 Application of Basic Sus Voicing to ‘Over The...
SusVoicingsLessonSupplementwww.pianogroove.com
SusChordsIntroduction• ‘Sus’isshorthandfor‘suspended’anditreferstothe4thwhichissaidtobe
‘suspended’inthechord.• Thesimplestwaytodemonstratethisistoplayamajortriadandraisethe3rd
tothe4th.VoicingSusChordswith2Hands• Theeasiestwaytovoiceasuschordover2handsistoplaytherootinyour
lefthandandplayamajortriadbuiltfromtheb7.Youcouldalsolookatthisasamajortriadawholestepbelowtheroot:
• ThisgivesyouR,7,9,11,whichisaC9suschordasthe9thisthehighest
extensioninthechord.• Wecanplaythetriadinanyofits3inversions.Justlikeupperstructure
triads,thetriadontopwillsoundstrongestinitssecondinversion.Wecanalsoaddnotesinourlefthandanddoublenotesinourrighthandtogetabiggervoicing:
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ApplicationofBasicSusVoicingto‘OverTheRainbow’• WhenyoucomeacrossaSuschordinaleadsheet,playtherootofthechord
andthenamajortriadofftheb7andyoushouldbeabletofindaninversionofthetriadthatfitsthemelody.Trythisinbar3of‘OverTheRainbow’:
• ThechordsymbolisBb9sussotheformulaisamajortriadawholestepbelowtheroot.ThisisanAbmajortriadoverBbinthebass.A2ndinversionAbmajortriadwillyieldContopofthevoicingtokeepthemelodyintact.
• Alsoaddthe5thandb7intheleftforabiggersoundasinpreviousexamples.ExtendingUpwardstoCreatea13susChord.• Wecanextendthetriadinourrighthandintoamajor7thchordtoachievea
brighter,morecolourfulvoicingcontainingtheR,b7,9,11and13.
• Tocreatea13suschord,webuildamajor7thchordawholestepbelowtherootorofftheb7.thiswouldbeanFmaj7.Thereare4inversionsofthemajor7thchordontopwithgivesyouthedifferentvoicingoptionsabove.
• Suschordsarealsoveryusefulwhentherootisinthemelodyforadominantchord.Toplaytherootinthemelodyweextendthe13suschordupanother3rd.PlaytheRootandb7inyourlefthandandthenaminor7thchordoffthe9.Seethefollowing3examplesforG13sus,C13sus&F13sus:
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• TheseriesofchromaticallydescendingdominantchordsinthelastfourbarsofthebridgeofRoundMidnightareagoodexampletodemonstratesus13chordswiththerootinthemelody.
SusChordsinContextofa251Progression• Lookingatthe251progressionsbelow,wecanseethatinthesecond
example,whenwemovetoG13sus,wekeepthe3rd,5thand7thand9thofthe2chord(D-7)andallthatwedoischangethebasstoG.
• Thisillustratesaninterestingwaytolookatsuschords.Asuschordisineffect,ahalfwaypointbetweenthe2and5chord.Thesuschordhassomeofthetensionandsenseofmovementasthe5chordbutnotasdissonantduetotheabsenceofthetritone.
• Thisnowbringsusontoresolvingthesuspension.Inany251progression,wecanplayasuschordafterthe2chordandthenresolvethesuspensiontomovetothe5chord.Seeexampleontherightabove.
• Wecanalsoaddalterationstothe5chordeg.D-7–G13sus–G7b9–Cmaj13.
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• Nowlet’saddtwoalterationsbyplayingD-7–G13sus–G7b9#5–Cmaj13.
• AnothervariationwouldbeD-7–G13sus–G7#9#5–Cmaj13.
• Usingourknowledgeoftritones,wecanalsosubstitutethe5chord.G&Db
areatritoneapartsowecanplayaDb13#11aftertheG13susandthenresolvedowntothe1chord.
• Transposetheabovechordsintoafewdifferentkeys.Firsttry251sinF&Gandthenmoveonto‘blackkeys’suchasEb-andAb-
• Saythechordsaloudwhenyouplaythemtodevelopamentalassociation
withtheshape,lookandfeelofthesesuspendedvoicings.
