posted 24 November 2000 02:57 PM         

I've been downloading some lyrics and chords from Cowpie lately and playing along with some songs, and I keep running across Csus or Fsus, etc. I can always seem to substitute the major in place of the suspended, but I'd like to know what all this is about. Anybody?

posted 24 November 2000 03:29 PM         

Since I can't seem to explain myself, a specific example might be more illustrative. For example, as far as I know (which might be Jack Squat), a Csus chord is formed from the notes of C, A, and E rather than the notes of C, G, and E which form a Cmaj chord. So, maybe you could say that a suspended chord is a sort of hybrid between a given major chord and its related minor chord.

posted 24 November 2000 03:44 PM         

"A" = sus chord (sus4)

usually resolving to:

"men" = major chord

Usually the sus chord resolves to the root or the 5 of the progression...but not always. Sometimes it sounds cool to leave them hangin' out in space to create a little tension.

[This message was edited by Rick Schmidt on 24 November 2000 at 03:50 PM.]

posted 24 November 2000 03:52 PM         

As Rick just said, it can resolve to the C chord or it can resolve to a G7--from 8rd fret open C to B pedal down Csus4 you can let up the pedal back to C or you can hit the E lever to G7.

posted 24 November 2000 04:15 PM         

All night, love all night
   E            
4-------------------------|
5--7b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7b~~|
6-~7a~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7a~~|
7-------------------------|
8--7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7~~~|
practice makes perfect gonna get it right
  F#-
4-------------------------------------|
5--5b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
6--5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
7-------------------------------------|
8--5~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
Gonna get it right   one night at a time
      B sus            B            E
4--------------------------------------
5~~~~~~7~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~7------------7a-
6~~~~~~7b~~~~~~~~~~~~--7------------7b-
7--------------------------------------
8~~~~--7---------------7------------7--

      C7sus4     C7       C7sus4     C7      C7sus4    C7
F#-------------------|-------------------|------------------
Eb-------------------|------8L~~~~~~~~---|------------------
G#-------------------|----------8B~~~8---|------------------
E--------------------|--------8~~~~~~~---|---------1~~~1L---
B--------------------|----8~~~~~~~~~~~---|-------1~~~~~~~---
G#----------8B~~~8---|-------------------|-----1B~~~~~~~~---
F#-------------------|-------------------|---1~~~~~~~~~~~---
E---------8~~~~~~~---|-------------------|------------------
D-------8~~~~~~~~~---|-------------------|------------------
B-----8~~~~~~~~~~~---|-------------------|---1~~~~~~~~~~~---

The 3 easiest places for C7sus4

There is one more but that requires at least F#->G on 7th string, and maybe B->D on 5th string, but can be done without B->D.

posted 24 November 2000 05:01 PM         

IF, you have a lever that loweres the 6th string a whole tone, engage this lever AFTER you have released the B pedal picking strings 4, 5 and 6.

You have replaced the third of the chord with the 2nd note in the key.

In both examples, you have suspended the normal rule in music; and that is, every chord should always have the 3rd note of the key in there. This is the rare, if not the only, exception to that rule*.

And as one other poster poignantly pointed out, the suspended 4th or 2nd (9th) has to be resolved in both cases or just die like "Amen" in church music.

When used in good taste, it can be an awesome sound and embellishes your "bag of tricks". One caution, it can be over done and NO where is the more evident than the continuous pressing and releasing of the B pedal while holding a major chord with the root on top on the PSG (4, 5 and 6). It simply has been used to death.

Probably due to just the natural tendency of a player to press a pedal while sustaining a chord.

If you find yourself in this bad habit, think about it and try not to over use this lick.

God bless you all,

carl

posted 24 November 2000 07:29 PM         

One way to think of this is:

G11 = F/G bass, or C11 = Bb/C bass....etc. etc. Find a major chord, keep the root note where it is, then move the rest of the notes down a whole step. This chord has the 7th, 9th, and 11th (8ve 4th) intervals, and funtions as a sus chord.

[This message was edited by Rick Schmidt on 24 November 2000 at 07:32 PM.]

posted 24 November 2000 07:37 PM         

I don't have the 6th string lower that Carl spoke of (just sold a guitar that had it...), but that sounds real interesting.

I'm going to have to go off and process some of this excellent information, because in contrast to what Jon said, i.e.,

quote:

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But I suspect you know all this, Steve. I gather it's the musical application you are asking about. I'm not smart enough to answer that.

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I really appreciate all this good stuff.

Steve

[This message was edited by Steve Feldman on 24 November 2000 at 07:39 PM.]

posted 24 November 2000 09:10 PM         

It's a good idea to give the sus4 some space in its voicing. You could play a Gsus triad as G-C-D, but it usually sounds better in the D-G-C inversion, with the bass player forcing the G root. The stacked 4ths in the D-G-C inversion give the chord a very "open" quality that allows it to hang around for a while without resolution.

Here's where the relationship to the add9 chord becomes apparent. Cadd9 is spelled C-E-G-D, and Gsus4 is G-C-D. So, if you play the stacked 4ths triad D-G-C or the stacked 5ths C-G-D, the bass player will actually determine which chord the listener will infer (I or V). This open vagueness of stack 4ths and stacked 5ths is one of the identifying characteristics of new age music, but you can also hear it in modern Hawaiian music and in "grunge" alternative rock.

[This message was edited by Bobby Lee on 24 November 2000 at 09:14 PM.]

posted 25 November 2000 11:38 AM         

Since I am a 6 string rocker turned steeler, I know of zillions of examples of this in rock songs. Most of the time you'll hear the sus4 used when the bass stays on the root or I chord (an A, for example) and the sus4 will be played by the guitars and imply the IV (in this case a D). As someone said previously, it sounds like something wants to move on or "resolve" to something. In most cases it resolves right back to where it started, the I chord.

Some rock songs that use this to varying degrees (or sound awful close to it):
Unchained - Van Halen
Tube Snake Boogie, It's Only Love - ZZ Top
Almost anything by AC/DC or Kiss
Honky Tonk Women, Brown Sugar- Rolling Stones
Ramblin Gamblin Man - Bob Seger
Runnin on Empty - Jackson Browne

Hope all this heavy rock talk didn't foul the forum up.

posted 25 November 2000 08:56 PM         

BTW, when I spoke to Herb's wife Patty a couple of weeks ago, she said Herb was officially retiring this month. God bless him, he's one cool guy.

posted 26 November 2000 05:27 PM         

quote:

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Please E-mail me if your Bass Player has a brother or sister that plays Bass.

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