Asus2 guitar chord
Three notes across one string set.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Asus2 — triad voicings
Asus2 is A, B and E — A with the third replaced by the second.
It sounds open, and neither major nor minor. With no third it works over either quality, which is why strummed parts lean on it.
Asus2 notes and formula
| A | B | E |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 5 |
Suspended — it hangs until something moves.
Also written A2 or A suspended 2nd. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Asus2
Three notes on one string set. No seventh, so nothing is claimed about the chord beyond its quality.
Thin on their own, excellent over a bass line or against someone else’s harmony.
Asus2 has 49 of them, on the top three strings, the low-middle three, the high-middle three, the middle four strings, the top four strings, the bottom four strings, the bottom three strings, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 2nd fret up to the 14th — every inversion the chord has: A in the bass, B in the bass and E in the bass. The one to learn first is the A shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the middle four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with x02200 — no barre and 3 open strings. 2 of the 11 shapes here sit in open position. 4 of the 11 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x02200 | open position | A, root position | E | 3 open strings |
| x02400 | open position | A, root position | E | 3 open strings |
| 52245x | 2nd fret | A, root position | E | all fretted |
| x22255 | 2nd fret | B, 2nd in the bass | A | barred |
| 5xx455 | 4th fret | A, root position | A | barred |
| 577x57 | 5th fret | A, root position | B | barred |
| x-x-7-9-10-7 | 7th fret | A, root position | B | all fretted |
| x09900 | 9th fret | A, root position | E | 3 open strings |
| x-12-9-9-10-12 | 9th fret | A, root position | E | all fretted |
| x-x-9-9-10-12 | 9th fret | B, 2nd in the bass | E | all fretted |
| x-12-14-14-12-12 | 12th fret | A, root position | E | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Asus2
Voice by voice, Asus2 → A. No voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Asus2 | Moves | In A |
|---|---|---|
| A, the root | stays where it is | A, the root |
| B, the second | falls a whole tone | A, the root |
| E, the fifth | stays where it is | E, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Asus2 belongs to C major (the vi), C# minor (the ♭VI), D major (the V), E major (the IV), E minor (the iv), F# minor (the ♭III), G major (the ii), A major (the I), A minor (the i) and B minor (the ♭VII).
What to play over Asus2
Every note of Asus2 is in A major pentatonic, A major, A lydian, A mixolydian and A dorian.
Chords near Asus2
Change one note of Asus2 and you have A (the ninth becomes a major third), Am (the ninth becomes a minor third), Asus4 (the ninth becomes a fourth), Asus2sus4 (add the fourth), Aadd9 (add the major third) or Amadd9 (add the minor third).
Asus2 is a suspended chord — root and fifth, with a second or fourth where the third would be — or nothing at all. Suspended and power chords on every root.
On Asus2’s sound and use this page follows Robert Rawlins & Nor Eddine Bahha, Jazzology (Hal Leonard, 2005). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.