suspended chord
Neither major minor
A suspended chord replaces the third of a triad with a second or fourth, creating harmonic tension that typically resolves back to the standard chord.
In a sus4, the fourth replaces the third; in a sus2, the second does.
The suspended note wants to move, giving these chords their characteristic unresolved, expectant quality: The song opens with a Dsus4 before resolving to D major.
- minor thirdThree-semitone pitch distance
- tensionStretched or strained state
- unresolvedLacking final determination
- left hangingAbandoned without resolution
- dreamyVague and pleasantly distracted
floating · ambiguous · open · open tuning · voicing · jazz · folk · acoustic · Townshend · pinky · hammer-on · jangle · yearning · hover · dissonance · consonance · dominant · tonic
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