Originally Posted by: CSchlegelIt is a different sound, but I wouldn't say fundamentally different. :D

Maybe I wasn't precise enough in my answer. I'll try again!

Consider that any & all chord names are shorthand conceptual tags. Any chord symbol is just that: a linguistic symbol that can refer to a wide class of concretes.

If I tell you, or a piece of sheet music reads, "Play an A major chord", the question remains: which specific voicing in which octave? That is what music notation is for; to precisely specify the notes.

Because an A major chord can be played in many different ways, octaves or voicings. Likewise for a sus2 chord. So, unless I provide a specific voicing, any combination of the notes A, B & E you can find on the guitar is acceptable for an Asus2.

Makes sense?

it makes sense; and it doesn't.

I mean isn't it all relative to the root of the chord?
To me.. If I say sus2; then the voicing has to conform to that formula of scale degrees - relative to the root - and if it doesn't then it isn't that formula.
I mean again: i get a very different effect when I play the same chord in a different octave.
I will specifically choose which voicing on my fretboard to use based on "do I want the chord I'm using to be higher in pitch than the one I'm coming from or lower."
It's like I'll play one; and be like "bleh" and find the same chord elsewhere; because it sounds different; even though it's technically the same;
but in that case it's still the same formula within the context of it's root;
but with Csus2 VS Csus9 we're talking about different notes relative to the root.
Same as if that D is lower in pitch to my C then it's some kind of D/C chord.