About F#sus2sus4 — drop 3 voicings
F#sus2sus4 is F#, G#, B and C# — F#sus4 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.
Texture more than function — still no third.
F#sus2sus4 notes and formula
| F# | G# | B | C# |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Also written F#sus2/4 or F# suspended 2nd and 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play F#sus2sus4
The same operation one voice further down: the third voice from the top falls an octave and becomes the bass.
That leaves a bigger hole under the top three notes, so a string gets skipped: the muted string in the middle is the shape, not a mistake.
F#sus2sus4 has 9 of them, on strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from open position up to the 13th — every inversion the chord has: F# in the bass, G# in the bass, B in the bass and C# in the bass. The one to learn first is the B shape at the nut.
5 of them sit on strings 5-3-2-1, 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 4 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 224424, 2nd fret, F#, root position, top note G#, barred
- x96677, 6th fret, F#, root position, top note B, all fretted
- x-9-9-11-9-9, 9th fret, F#, root position, top note C#, barred
- 14-14-11-13-x-x, 11th fret, F#, root position, top note G#, all fretted
How to use F#sus2sus4
In which keys. Every note of F#sus2sus4 belongs to C# minor (the iv), Eb minor (the ♭III), E major (the ii), F# major (the I), F# minor (the i), Ab minor (the ♭VII), A major (the vi) and B major (the V).
What to play over F#sus2sus4
Every note of F#sus2sus4 is in F# major, F# mixolydian, F# dorian, F# natural minor and F# harmonic minor.
Chords near F#sus2sus4
Change one note of F#sus2sus4 and you have F#sus2 (drop the fourth), F#sus4 (drop the second), F#add9 (the fourth becomes the major third), F#madd9 (the fourth becomes the minor third), F#7sus4 (the second becomes the flat seventh) or F#11 (add the flat seventh).
F#sus2sus4 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.