Csus2 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 Csus2 — triad voicings
Csus2 is C, D and G — C 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.
Suspended — it hangs until something moves.
Csus2 notes and formula
| C | D | G |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 5 |
Also written C2 or C suspended 2nd. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Csus2
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.
Csus2 has 49 of them, on the high-middle three, the middle four strings, the top four strings, the low-middle three, the top three strings, the bottom three strings, the bottom four strings, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from open position up to the 12th — every inversion the chord has: C in the bass, D in the bass and G in the bass. The one to learn first is the D shape at the nut, 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.
All 10 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- x30013, open position, C, root position, top note G, 2 open strings
- x30033, open position, C, root position, top note G, barred
- x35533, 3rd fret, C, root position, top note G, barred
- 85578x, 5th fret, C, root position, top note G, all fretted
- x55588, 5th fret, D, 2nd in the bass, top note C, barred
- 8x0788, 7th fret, C, root position, top note C, barred
- 8-10-10-x-8-10, 8th fret, C, root position, top note D, barred
- x-x-10-12-13-10, 10th fret, C, root position, top note D, all fretted
- x-15-12-12-13-15, 12th fret, C, root position, top note G, all fretted
- x-x-12-12-13-15, 12th fret, D, 2nd in the bass, top note G, all fretted
How to use Csus2
Voice by voice, Csus2 → C. No voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Csus2 | Moves | In C |
|---|---|---|
| C, the root | stays where it is | C, the root |
| D, the second | falls a whole tone | C, the root |
| G, the fifth | stays where it is | G, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Csus2 belongs to C major (the I), C minor (the i), D minor (the ♭VII), Eb major (the vi), E minor (the ♭VI), F major (the V), G major (the IV), G minor (the iv), A minor (the ♭III) and Bb major (the ii).
What to play over Csus2
Every note of Csus2 is in C major pentatonic, C major, C lydian, C mixolydian and C dorian.
Chords near Csus2
Change one note of Csus2 and you have C (the second becomes the major third), Cm (the second becomes the minor third), Csus4 (the second becomes the fourth), Csus2sus4 (add the fourth), Cadd9 (add the major third) or Cmadd9 (add the minor third).
Csus2 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.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.