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Suspensions are chords
in which the 4th degree of the scale takes the place of the
3rd degree -- usually temporarily, but not always. For example,
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Csus would
look like this:
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Fsus
would look like this:
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Gsus
would look like this:
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Some examples of a 7th chord that was suspended
are shown below:
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C7sus
would look like this:
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F7sus
would look like this:
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G7sus
would look like this:
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It's
just that easy. Replace the 3rd of the chord with the 4th,
and you've got it! That's all there is to it.
Here's
how these same chords look when notated:
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CHORD
SYMBOL DEFINITION
A
suspension is
a non-harmonic tone -- a tone not belonging
to the chord -- that often resolves to the harmonic
tone. In jazz harmony a suspension usually replaces
the 3rd of a major or minor triad with a major 2nd
or perfect 4th above the root. The normal resolution
of the suspension is to the 3rd of the triad, either
major or minor. Suspensions ordinarily appear in leadsheets
as any of the following chord symbols:
Csus
Csus2 Csus4
When
the chord symbol for a suspension is not followed
by a number (as in Csus), this generally indicates
a sus 4. Occassionally a suspension will be
notated as the chord name plus an Arabic number, omitting
the sus abbreviation (C4 = Csus4).
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Next time we'll investigate altered chords. See you then.
Meanwhile, be sure to review all the previous lessons --
from major triads to 13ths.
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