Sus Chords

hello all, i was hoping someone would be able to explain teh basic theory behind sus chords and what they are used for. Alls i know is they sound good, especially if i follow them up with a maj7 chord ( i played Cmaj7, A7sus4 and it sounded pretty good). Also what kind of scales do they go with?

if any part of the question doesnt make sense please let me know. I dont know how else to phrase my question.

thanks

The "sus" means suspended. A major or minor chord has a third (either a major third, or a minor third). The third note is generally the note that gives the chord it's character... The suspended 4th chords do not have a third note, instead they have a 4th. Sus2 is the same thing except you have a 2nd instead of a 4th... Hope that helps you out some. Generally I use them as what I call "passing" chords. In a progression I will throw a few in to add some charcter to the progression... I don't usually base a song around suspended chords. I'm sure you could if you wanted to though.

yeah thanks a lot, now i understand a bit better. I just wanted to know how exactly they are used in chordal progressions.

this might be a stupid question, but is Em and Esus the same thing?

Originally Posted by: Portis_26this might be a stupid question, but is Em and Esus the same thing?

No it is not. In an E chord, you play the 1 3 and 5 notes in the E maj scale. An Em chord is the 1 3 5 of the Em scale, only the third is a different note.
Sus chords are neither major or minor, they are neutral. This neutrality gives the suspended chords a feeling of tension. The amount of tension depends on whether it is a sus2, sus4, dominant seventh sus4, etc...

Hi. Wot do you play if its is just a sus chord not a sus2 or sus4 etc? Is the same as a sus2??