A lot of the music I have to work with (in my church band) consist only of lyrics and chords. A lot like David's early beginner lessons (From what it's worth):
E
It's time we stop children what's that sound
A E A E A
Everybody look what's going down
Okay, questions:
(1) I know what suspended seconds and suspended fourths are, but every so often I see chords with, for example, "A sus", or sometimes even
"A sus A". What does that mean? Can I pick a second or fourth?
(2) In the second line of the above example, there's five chords in the line. Am I interpreting it correctly when I say four beats (one measure) of A, then one beat each of E, then A, then E, then A?
(3) I still can't work out what the "/" means for chords such as G/A. I thought that the "?" meant to play the base chord indicated by the note after the slash, but for a G I strum all six anyway. A guitarist friend of mine says it means I can choose which chord to play, but I'm almost SURE that's not right.
Thanks for your help, guys!
1) Strictly speaking, sus2 chords don't exist, so a "sus" chord with no number is a sus4. AsusA usually means play the Asus4 first then back to A. This is a very common lick in all sorts of music. Whole songs have been written around it.
2) From what I remember of the vocal line in that particular song, it's more like: A A A A E E A E A. Start with just the bassline and try to follow the vocal. I suspect that most guitarists wouldn't actually change chords, just play an A all the time with A or E bass notes, which brings us to:
3) Slash chords like G/A mean "a chord with an unusual bass note" and is read "G over A". I.e. a G major chord with an A in the bass. You do
not choose which chord to play, but you can play just a plain G chord if you find the slash chord hard to finger.
In a band setting, typically the bass player will add the bass note so the guitarist is off the hook.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
That's helpful, thanks! But can anyone give me any background about sus2? In what sense doesn't it "strictly" exist?
Well, what's a "sus" chord? It's when the 3rd of the chord has been "suspended" or held over.
Thus an Asus4 has the 3rd replaced with a 4th. Instead of A-C#-E it has A-D-E (1-4-5 instead of 1-3-5).
What's a sus2? It's a modern term for when the 3rd is replaced with a 2nd (1-2-5). Thus an Asus2 would have A-B-E. But note that A-B-E is just an 1st inversion Esus4 (E-A-B) right?
So essentially, according to classical theory, sus2 chords are just an inversion (different bass note) of a sus4 chord.
That said, the name is popular and frequently used in popular music. IMO which name you use should depend on context and purpose of the chord.
--
Helgi Briem
hbriem AT gmail DOT com
Interesting...I just always called them sus2, but never thought that technically (in classical theory) that a suspension resolves down by a step or half-step. As I recall, a "retardation" is the term for when the suspension resolves upwards.
Yep, you're right about the motion - but 'retardation' or 'suspension' in those terms really refers to the motion of a single voice, and not a chord change. Those terms originally come from the treatment of counterpoint.
Classical theory doesn't really even have a suspended chord - when they occur, it's a non-harmonic tone in relation to the underlying harmony, no matter which way it moves. If your chord change is F-C, and the root of F descends a bit late, it's not analyzed as F-Csus-C; it's F-C with a suspension in the voice moving from F-E.
Suspended chords as a term came about pretty recently to describe their use in folk and popular music (where they're apt to last a lot longer than in a counterpoint piece) Since chord charts don't try to capture voice movements, we have no need to distinguish betwee 'C sus' and 'C ret' - it's the same notes at the same time either way.
Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL
Right...classical theory/counterpoint is quite different from pop chord theory. And I left out part of the definition in classical terms...the non-harmonic tone is approached by the same note and then either resolves down (suspension) or resolves upwards (retardation). But that really doesn't have anything to do with modern chord notation.
