Bsus2sus4 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 Bsus2sus4 — open string voicings
Bsus2sus4 is B, C#, E and F# — Bsus4 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.
Bsus2sus4 notes and formula
| B | C# | E | F# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Texture more than function — still no third.
Also written Bsus2/4 or B suspended 2nd and 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bsus2sus4
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.
Bsus2sus4 has 3 of them, on the top four strings, strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 6-4-3-2-1, all of them at the 4th fret — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass and F# in the bass. The one to learn first is the F# shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with 7746xx — no barre and low, at the 4th fret. None of the shapes for Bsus2sus4 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 2 of the 4 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x22422 | 2nd fret | B, root position | F# | barred |
| 7746xx | 4th fret | B, root position | C# | all fretted |
| 779979 | 7th fret | B, root position | C# | barred |
| x-14-11-11-12-12 | 11th fret | B, root position | E | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 12 drop 2 and 8 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Bsus2sus4
In which keys. Every note of Bsus2sus4 belongs to C# minor (the ♭VII), D major (the vi), E major (the V), F# minor (the iv), Ab minor (the ♭III), A major (the ii), B major (the I) and B minor (the i).
What to play over Bsus2sus4
Every note of Bsus2sus4 is in B major, B mixolydian, B dorian, B natural minor and B harmonic minor.
Chords near Bsus2sus4
Change one note of Bsus2sus4 and you have Bsus2 (drop the fourth), Bsus4 (drop the ninth), Badd9 (the fourth becomes a major third), Bmadd9 (the fourth becomes a minor third), B7sus4 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh) or B11 (add the flat seventh).
Bsus2sus4 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 Bsus2sus4’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.