Suspended chord
| Component intervals from root | |
|---|---|
| perfect fifth | |
| perfect fourth | |
| root | |
| Tuning | |
| 6:8:9 | |
|
Forte no. / |
|
| 3-9 / |
| Component intervals from root | |
|---|---|
| perfect fifth | |
| major second | |
| root | |
| Tuning | |
| 8:9:12 | |
|
Forte no. / |
|
| 3-9 / |
A suspended chord (or sus chord) is a musical chord in which the (major or minor) third is omitted, replaced usually with either a perfect fourth (
play ) or a major second ( play ), although the fourth is far more common. The lack of a minor or a major third in the chord creates an open sound, while the dissonance between the fourth and fifth or second and root creates tension.
The term is borrowed from the contrapuntal technique of suspension, where a note from a previous chord is carried over to the next chord, and then resolved down to the third or tonic, suspending a note from the previous chord. However, in modern usage, the term concerns only the notes played at a given time; in a suspended chord the added tone does not necessarily resolve, and is not necessarily "prepared" (i.e., held over) from the prior chord. As such, in C–F–G, F would resolve to E (or E♭), but in rock and popular music, "the term is used to indicate only the harmonic structure, with no implications about what comes before or after," though preparation of the fourth occurs about half the time and traditional resolution of the fourth occurs usually. In modern jazz, a third can be added to the chord voicing, as long as it is above the fourth.
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Wikipedia