Suspended chord

{{Short description|Musical chord in which the (major or minor) third is omitted}} {{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \key c \major <c e g>1 <c f g>1 <c d g>1 } } </score>|width= 300|caption = A C major triad, followed by two suspended chords without the third: C^sus4 and C^sus2.}}A '''suspended chord''' (or '''sus chord''') is a musical chord in which the third is replaced by a dissonant tone like a perfect fourth or a major second. The resulting sound is tonally ambiguous. The practice is widespread in popular music.

==Definition== [[File:A 4-3 suspension in C major.jpg|alt=A 4-3 suspension in C major: The upper C in the first bar is suspended into the second, where it becomes a dissonance against the G major chord. The melody steps down to B, and the suspended 4th becomes the 3rd of the chord.|thumb|A 4-3 suspension in C major. The upper C in the first bar is suspended into the second, where it becomes a dissonance against the G major chord. The melody steps down to B, and the suspended 4th becomes the 3rd of the chord.<ref>Jadassohn, Solomon. ''[https://www.google.com/books/edition/Manual_of_Single_Double_Triple_Quadruple/HQo3AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA31 Manual of Single, Double, Triple & Quadruple Counterpoint]'' Translated by Theodore Baker. G. Schirmer, 1908. 31.</ref>]] The term derives from suspensions in counterpoint, where tones of a previous chord are suspended into the next harmony. The suspension creates a dissonance which must be resolved. A common suspension is a fourth above the root resolving to the third of the chord. Sevenths, ninths, and seconds are also common suspensions.<ref>Randel, Don Michael. ''[https://archive.org/details/newharvarddictio00rand/page/205/mode/1up The New Harvard Dictionary of Music]''. Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, 1993. 205f.</ref>

As tonality expanded, classical composers began embracing less functional harmony structured in fourths and fifths.<ref>Schoenberg, Arnold. ''[https://archive.org/details/theoryofharmony0000scho/page/399/mode/1up Theory of Harmony]''. Translated by Roy E. Carter. University of California Press. 399–407.</ref> In popular music, it also became commonplace to leave suspensions in place without resolving them.<ref name="Stephensonp88">{{cite book |last=Stephenson |first=Ken |year=2002 |title=What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis |page=[https://archive.org/details/whattolistenfori0000step/page/88 88] |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-09239-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/whattolistenfori0000step/page/88 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Andy |last1=Ellis |title=EZ Street: Sus-Chord Mojo |journal=Guitar Player |date=October 2006}}</ref><ref>Scruton, Roger. ''Understanding Music: Philosophy and Interpretation''. Bloomsbury Academic, 2009. 17.</ref> Popular musicians further dispensed with the requirement that the suspended note originate in the preceding harmony. Suspended chords are commonly nicknamed "sus chords".<ref name=Grove>Strunk, Steven. "Harmony, jazz." ''Grove Music Online''. Oxford University Press, 2003.</ref> In chord notation, a number is added to indicate the suspended note, for instance C^sus4. The absence of the third creates an ambiguous, open sound.<ref name=Kolb>Kolb, Tom. ''All about Guitar: A Fun and Simple Guide to Playing Guitar''. Hal Leonard, 2006. 94.</ref>

==Usage== ===Popular music=== Suspended chords are commonly found in folk and popular music. Keith Richards makes extensive use of suspended chords in his preferred open tuning for guitar.<ref>Gill, Chris. ''[https://archive.org/details/guitarlegendsdef0000gill/page/109/mode/1up Guitar Legends: The Definitive Guide to the World's Greatest Guitar Players]''. HarperPerennial, 1995.</ref> He found it integral to his songwriting, "I learned there is often one note doing something that makes the whole thing work. It's usually a suspended chord. It's not a full chord, it's a mixture of chords, which I love to use to this day. If you're playing a straight chord, whatever comes next should have something else in it. If it's an A chord, a hint of D. Or if it's a song with a different feeling, if it's an A chord, a hint of G should come in somewhere, which makes a 7th, which then can lead you on."<ref>Richards, Keith. ''Life''. Little, Brown and Company, 2010. 98ff.</ref> Joni Mitchell also favored suspended chords because, "so much in my life was unresolved from 'when were they going to drop the big one?' to 'where is my daughter?' that I had to use unresolved chords to convey my unresolved questions".<ref> Moeller, Jan Clemens. "[https://jonimitchell.com/library/view.cfm?id=5895 Comments about Joni Mitchell's Composing Techniques and Guitar Style]", ''Systematic Musicology: Empirical and Theoretical Studies''. Edited by Albrecht Schneider and Arne von Ruschkowski. Peter Lang, 2011. [https://jonimitchell.com/library/originals/jmOriginal_5895.pdf 238].</ref>

The Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road" is full of "heartbreaking suspensions", according to Ian MacDonald. "Yes It Is" also relies on suspensions to create a "rich and unusual harmonic motion".<ref>MacDonald, Ian. ''Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties''. Chicago Review Press, 2007. 147, 341.</ref> The instrumental opening to The Four Tops’ song "Reach Out I'll Be There" (1966) features an E chord containing a suspended fourth, resolved immediately by being followed by an E minor chord. <ref> Holland, Dozier and Holland (1966), Jobete Music Co. Inc </ref> Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love" in the arrangement performed by Dusty Springfield (1967) opens with a clearly audible Dm7 suspension.<ref>Bacharach, Burt and Hal David. "[https://archive.org/details/bacharachdavidso00bach/page/62/mode/1up The Look of Love]", ''The Bacharach and David Song Book''. Simon and Schuster, 1970. 62.</ref>

Pete Townshend opens "Pinball Wizard" with a suspended four chord that resolves to the tonic. It is one of the signature motifs of ''Tommy''.<ref>Townshend, Pete. ''[https://archive.org/details/whostommymusical00town/page/120/mode/1up The Who's Tommy: The Musical]''. Pantheon Books, 1993. 120.</ref> Songs with prominent suspended chords that do not resolve include The Police's "Every Breath You Take", Shocking Blue's "Venus", and Chicago's "Make Me Smile".<ref name="Stephensonp88" /> Noel Gallagher relies heavily on suspended chords in Oasis songs like "Champagne Supernova" and "Wonderwall".<ref>''The Oasis Collection''. Guitar Tab edition. Wise Publications, 2010.</ref>

===Jazz=== {{Image frame|content=<score sound="1"> { \override Score.TimeSignature #'stencil = ##f \relative c' { \clef treble \time 4/4 \key c \major <g c d f a>1 } } </score>|width= 250|caption=G^9sus4 chord}} A common suspended chord in jazz combines the supertonic and dominant chords into one sonority: V^9sus4.<ref name="Humphries">Humphries, Carl. ''[https://archive.org/details/pianoimprovisati0000hump/page/353/mode/1up The piano improvisation handbook]''. Hal Leonard, 2002. 353.</ref>

Red Garland ends his piano introduction to "Bye Bye Blackbird" on the Miles Davis album '''Round About Midnight'' with a series of suspended chords.<ref>Sher, Chuck. ''[https://archive.org/details/newrealbookvolum0000unse/page/35/mode/1up The New Real Book, Volume 2]''. Petaluma: Sher Music, 1991. 35.</ref>

Suspended chords are a common feature of modal jazz, which emerged in the 1960s. McCoy Tyner played them frequently.<ref>Kim, Yeeun. ''[https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/legacy-mccoy-tyner-1962-1967-chick-corea-kenny/docview/3078190685/se-2 A Legacy of McCoy Tyner from 1962 to 1967: Chick Corea and Kenny Kirkland’s Intervallic Improvisational Tendencies with Pentatonic and Octatonic Scales from 1968 to 1996]''. University of North Texas, 2024. 13–23.</ref> Herbie Hancock described the structural chord of his 1965 tune "Maiden Voyage" as "a 7th chord with the 11th on the bottom—a 7th chord with a suspended 4th". Instead of resolving the way such a tall chord would in functional harmony, Hancock simply transposes the chord up a minor third, "It doesn't have any cadences; it just keeps moving around in a circle."<ref>Kernfeld, Barry Dean. ''What to Listen for in Jazz''. Yale University Press, 1995. 68.</ref>

==See also== *Added tone chord *Sixth chord

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *Levine, Mark. ''The Jazz Piano Book''. Sher Music Company, 2011.

{{Chords}}

Category:Chords