Originally Posted by: Lao_Tzuplease may someone respond soon
well my take on this is that like you said since the chords lack the 3rd they are neither major or minor. So you can do what you want over it.
As an example if you were to record yourself simply playing the open low E string and then you wanted to play over it, what you play?
The answer is that you could play anything. E major, E minor, E dorian, E lydian, etc.. One thing to know about music is that the rythm doesn't HAVE to take the time to spell out the exact chords all the time. In fact some of my favorite pieces of music have a droning bass line playing a root and a 5th with maybe an occasional minor 7, and the rest is left open for the soloing instrument to come in and fill out. This instrument will "lead" your ear around the various modes even going from minor to major and back again. (see articles on pitch axis theory)
Sus chords are similar to this in that they don't define the 3rds. So anything goes which is why they are so much fun to use. But other times the chord choice in the progression will give your ear all it needs to fill in what it wants to hear over it.
For instance try playing the progression:
B minor 9 / G Sus 2
and give each chord 2 measures.
B minor 9
E:--7
A:--9
D:--7
G:--7
B:--7
E:--9
G Sus 2 (Hendrix fingering)
E:--3 (use thumb)
A:--X
D:--5
G:--0
B:--3
E:--5
now what mode does your ear want you to play over it? It's most likely going to hear this as B Aoelian (natural minor) and attempts to play B dorian or phrygian will sound slightly off. Why? Because it's the only diatonic chord scale that has a B-minor 9 in it and includes G major. Even though we played G as a Sus2 chord the other chord is a B chord and B is the major 3rd of G so your ear will automatically hear that B as the major 3rd of the G chord when you change chords. Plus the "9" added to B minor 7 helps reinforce this and rules out the ability to play B phyrgian.
But it's all up to your ear, as in what YOU hear, not what I hear.
Just remember the less the back ground music defines, the more your melody can work with and change without clashing, and this will allow you to make some very unique melodies that might not work otherwise. :)
