Asus2sus4 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Asus2sus4 — open string voicings
Asus2sus4 is A, B, D and E — Asus4 with the second added underneath the fourth.
It sounds ringing and deliberately ambiguous. Read another way it is a stack of fourths, which is why it works as a pad rather than as a chord that resolves.
Asus2sus4 notes and formula
| A | B | D | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Texture more than function — still no third.
Also written Asus2/4 or A suspended 2nd and 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Asus2sus4
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Asus2sus4 has 6 of them, on strings 5-4-3-2-1, the middle four strings, strings 6-4-3-2-1, strings 6-5-4-3-2, the bottom four strings and strings 6-5-4-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 7th — every inversion the chord has: A 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.
Start with x00200 — no barre and 4 open strings. 1 of the 5 shapes here sits in open position. 2 of the 5 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x00200 | open position | A, root position | E | 4 open strings |
| 5524xx | 2nd fret | A, root position | B | all fretted |
| 557757 | 5th fret | A, root position | B | barred |
| x-12-9-9-10-10 | 9th fret | A, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-12-12-14-12-12 | 12th fret | A, root position | E | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 15 drop 2 and 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Asus2sus4
In which keys. Every note of Asus2sus4 belongs to C major (the vi), D major (the V), 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 Asus2sus4
Every note of Asus2sus4 is in A major, A mixolydian, A dorian, A natural minor and A harmonic minor.
Chords near Asus2sus4
Change one note of Asus2sus4 and you have Asus2 (drop the fourth), Asus4 (drop the ninth), Aadd9 (the fourth becomes a major third), Amadd9 (the fourth becomes a minor third), A7sus4 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh) or A11 (add the flat seventh).
Asus2sus4 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 Asus2sus4’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.