Esus2 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 Esus2 — triad voicings
Esus2 is E, F# and B — E 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.
Esus2 notes and formula
| E | F# | B |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 5 |
Suspended — it hangs until something moves.
Also written E2 or E suspended 2nd. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Esus2
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.
Esus2 has 47 of them, on the bottom three strings, the bottom four strings, the high-middle three, the top three strings, the middle four strings, the top four strings, the low-middle three, strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 5-3-2-1, from the 2nd fret up to the 14th — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass, F# in the bass and B in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the bottom 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 xx2452 — no barre and down at the nut. None of the shapes for Esus2 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 6 of the 10 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx2452 | 2nd fret | E, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x74457 | 4th fret | E, root position | B | all fretted |
| xx4457 | 4th fret | F#, 2nd in the bass | B | all fretted |
| 079977 | 7th fret | E, root position | B | barred |
| x79977 | 7th fret | E, root position | B | barred |
| 099900 | 9th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
| 12-9-9-11-12-x | 9th fret | E, root position | B | all fretted |
| x-9-9-9-12-12 | 9th fret | F#, 2nd in the bass | E | barred |
| 12-x-x-11-12-12 | 11th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
| 12-14-14-x-12-14 | 12th fret | E, root position | F# | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 2 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Esus2
Voice by voice, Esus2 → E. No voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Esus2 | Moves | In E |
|---|---|---|
| E, the root | stays where it is | E, the root |
| F#, the second | falls a whole tone | E, the root |
| B, the fifth | stays where it is | B, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Esus2 belongs to C# minor (the ♭III), D major (the ii), E major (the I), E minor (the i), F# minor (the ♭VII), G major (the vi), Ab minor (the ♭VI), A major (the V), B major (the IV) and B minor (the iv).
What to play over Esus2
Every note of Esus2 is in E major pentatonic, E major, E lydian, E mixolydian and E dorian.
Chords near Esus2
Change one note of Esus2 and you have E (the ninth becomes a major third), Em (the ninth becomes a minor third), Esus4 (the ninth becomes a fourth), Esus2sus4 (add the fourth), Eadd9 (add the major third) or E5 (drop the ninth).
Esus2 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 Esus2’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.