Definition of Sus

Suspension - "a progression of chords in which one note is tied over to the next chord, while the other voices move to a new harmony, thereby causing dissonance with the tied note."

Chambers Dictionary of Music

A :-)

I am not familiar with the Chambers Dictionary, but my long acquaintance with the term "Suspension" involves a dissonance which resolves downward, stepwise.

A dissonance which resolves upward, stepwise, is a retardation.

To be clear, I'm looking for the suspended chord, not a suspension as an event over time where non-harmonic tone is resolved to the third.

From the Harvard Dictionary of Music:

Suspension, normally a dissonant tone occurring in a strong metrical position, having been sustained (or "suspended" or "prepared") from an initial attack as a consonance and converted to a dissonance as a result of the motion of another voice. It is most often resolved downward by step.

Harvard makes no mention of a suspended chord.

From Piston's "Harmony" (from the 4th editiion):

When several tones are suspended at once, they constitute a suspended chord, so that there may be two harmonies heard at the same time, a familiar effect in cadences of slow movements.

A dissonance which resolves upward, stepwise, is a retardation.

I was taught the same thing. But in theory, there are varying degrees of hair-splitting... some well respected authors call it a suspension no matter which way it moves. The folks who like splitting hairs the most put a couple more requirements on a "suspension" - the suspended note must be tied from the previous chord; if it's a new attack, it's an appogiatura. And some authors insist it's a suspension only if the preparation falls on a strong beat, and the resolution on a weak one.

To be clear, I'm looking for the suspended chord, not a suspension as an event over time where non-harmonic tone is resolved to the third.

Basically, it's a chord where you replace the 3rd w/ the 4th. You may see a sus2, which is where you replace the 3rd w/ the 2nd.

I am not familiar with the Chambers Dictionary

Used by some of the Universities over here

Harvard makes no mention of a suspended chord.

Ditto Chambers

Britannica also makes no mention of a suspended chord. I'm not surprised. I've never thought of 'suspended chord' (unlike suspension) as an 'officia'l music theory term, but just a handy informal label that's been applied to a particular note combination - like 'power chord'. I bet they don't have that either.
Maybe we should compile a dictionary containing only terms that those books don't have :D

To be clear, I'm looking for the suspended chord, not a suspension as an event over time where non-harmonic tone is resolved to the third.

Basically, it's a chord where you replace the 3rd w/ the 4th. You may see a sus2, which is where you replace the 3rd w/ the 2nd.
Except that if you speak to just about anyone with a conservatory education, they'll tell you that there is no such thing as a "sus2" or "sus6" chord -- and for good reason. And I'm basically looking to see if I can find an "authoritative" source to point to in defense of that stance. I understand the argument, but haven't ever really seen citations to back it up (yeah, I'm an academic snob type)

The way the MD of one my orchestras explains it, what's actually being suspended is not the chord but the tonality of the chord - you're temporarily replacing the 3rd with the 4th or 2nd to create dissonance prior to resolving it. I was teaching it that way yesterday and watched one of my students having a visible light-bulb moment.

And you're right, Chambers doesn't define Power Chord either; but then it doesn't need to because there are so many other ways of describing what's going on:

Power Chord - a term used (esp. by guitarists) to describe the sound produced when simultaneously playing two notes having an interval of a perfect 5th.

A :-)

I'm no guru of harmony but it occurs to me that there may be reasoning in the fact that the sus4 chord has two "cadences" in it (IV-I, V-I). Can anyone do anything with that idea?

And you're right, Chambers doesn't define Power Chord either; but then it doesn't need to because there are so many other ways of describing what's going on:

Power Chord - a term used (esp. by guitarists) to describe the sound produced when simultaneously playing two notes having an interval of a perfect 5th.
Exactly my point - suspended chord, like power chord, is just a handy term used in popular music. If a conservatory trained graduate says there's no such thing as a sus2, I'd have to correct him and tell him that while there's no such thing in the traditional (common practice) theory that he studied, the term exists in popular music. It's an example of chord labeling to specify a particular combination of notes.

The reason it doesn't exist in traditional theory is simply that there's no need for it. As Alan says, there are different ways to describe what's going on. Traditional theory relies heavily on standard notation, not labels. The only time it needs labels is in functional analysis, in which case Roman numerals and figured bass are the preferred tools.

The chord labeling system found in popular music exists independently of standard notation. Consequently, a lot more labels are needed to cover the various note combinations. Whereas the chord in question could be seen in traditional terms as simply containing an appoggiatura resolving to a major or minor 3rd and voiced exactly as the notation specifies, a non-notation approach needs a label.
Sus2 is simply one of the existing labels that fulfills that need. Some may not like the label and, given the choice, prefer an alternative such as add9(no 3rd). But if you're on the receiving end and encounter a sus2 label in the middle of a song, denying its existence would be counter-productive to say the least.

Academic snob from another field here. (I'm a linguist- diplomas on the walls, letters after my name and everything.)

And arguing about whether a term exists is...odd. "sus2" or "sus6" may not be the "real" terms...but they let us know what to do.

That's what they're for. If I see "Asus" written over the lyrics on the sheet, I know what to play. If I see "Asus2," I'll have to stop to think about it, cause it's not as common, but I can figure out what to play. Or "sus6" or whatever.

This is what the labels are for- so people can figure out what to play.

Standardized terminology is all very well- otherwise we won't all know what we're talking about! But criticising a perfectly useful term as "wrong" because it isn't in some dictionary seems silly. Especially when it's a term that communicates so well with so many guitar players.

As an aside- "sus" to me means play the 4th instead of the 3rd. "sus2" means play the second instead of the 3rd. So why do some of my chord charts have "sus4?" To me, this would be the same as "sus," right?

Best,
Ande