Dsus2sus4 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 Dsus2sus4 — open string voicings
Dsus2sus4 is D, E, G and A — Dsus4 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.
Dsus2sus4 notes and formula
| D | E | G | A |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Texture more than function — still no third.
Also written Dsus2/4 or D suspended 2nd and 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Dsus2sus4
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.
Dsus2sus4 has 6 of them, on the top four strings, strings 6-5-4-3-2, strings 5-4-3-2-1, the middle four strings, strings 6-5-4-3-2-1 and the bottom four strings, from the 2nd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: D in the bass, E in the bass and A in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with x52233 — no barre and down at the nut. None of the shapes for Dsus2sus4 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 12th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x52233 | 2nd fret | D, root position | G | all fretted |
| x55755 | 5th fret | D, root position | A | barred |
| 10-10-7-9-x-x | 7th fret | D, root position | E | all fretted |
| 10-10-12-12-10-12 | 10th fret | D, 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 Dsus2sus4
In which keys. Every note of Dsus2sus4 belongs to C major (the ii), D major (the I), D minor (the i), E minor (the ♭VII), F major (the vi), G major (the V), A minor (the iv) and B minor (the ♭III).
What to play over Dsus2sus4
Every note of Dsus2sus4 is in D major, D mixolydian, D dorian, D natural minor and D harmonic minor.
Chords near Dsus2sus4
Change one note of Dsus2sus4 and you have Dsus2 (drop the fourth), Dsus4 (drop the ninth), Dadd9 (the fourth becomes a major third), Dmadd9 (the fourth becomes a minor third), D7sus4 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh) or D11 (add the flat seventh).
Dsus2sus4 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 Dsus2sus4’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.