About C#sus2 — triad voicings
C#sus2 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.
C#sus2 notes and formula
| C# | D# | G# |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 5 |
Suspended — it hangs until something moves.
Also written C#2 or C# suspended 2nd. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play C#sus2
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.
C#sus2 has 46 of them, on the high-middle three, the top three strings, the middle four strings, the top four strings, the bottom four strings, the low-middle three, the bottom three strings, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from open position up to the 13th — 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.
Start with xx1124 — no barre and down at the nut. None of the shapes for C#sus2 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 4 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x41124 | 1st fret | C#, root position | G# | all fretted |
| xx1124 | 1st fret | D#, 2nd in the bass | G# | all fretted |
| x46644 | 4th fret | C#, root position | G# | barred |
| 96689x | 6th fret | C#, root position | G# | all fretted |
| x66699 | 6th fret | D#, 2nd in the bass | C# | barred |
| 9xx899 | 8th fret | C#, root position | C# | barred |
| 9-11-11-x-9-11 | 9th fret | C#, root position | D# | barred |
| x-x-11-13-14-11 | 11th fret | C#, root position | D# | all fretted |
How to use C#sus2
Voice by voice, C#sus2 → C#. No voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In C#sus2 | 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 C#sus2 belongs to C# major (the I), C# minor (the i), Eb minor (the ♭VII), E major (the vi), F minor (the ♭VI), F# major (the V), Ab major (the IV), Ab minor (the iv), Bb minor (the ♭III) and B major (the ii).
What to play over C#sus2
Every note of C#sus2 is in C# major pentatonic, C# major, C# lydian, C# mixolydian and C# dorian.
Chords near C#sus2
Change one note of C#sus2 and you have C# (the ninth becomes a major third), C#m (the ninth becomes a minor third), C#sus4 (the ninth becomes a fourth), C#sus2sus4 (add the fourth), C#add9 (add the major third) or C#madd9 (add the minor third).
C#sus2 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 C#sus2’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.