Gsus2sus4 guitar chord
The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped.
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About Gsus2sus4 — drop 3 voicings
Gsus2sus4 is G, A, C and D — Gsus4 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.
Gsus2sus4 notes and formula
| G | A | C | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
Texture more than function — still no third.
Also written Gsus2/4 or G suspended 2nd and 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gsus2sus4
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.
Gsus2sus4 has 10 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 5-3-2-1, from open position up to the 14th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass, A in the bass, C in the bass and D in the bass. The one to learn first is the G shape at the nut.
5 of them sit on strings 6-4-3-2, 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 300213 — no barre and 2 open strings. 3 of the 7 shapes here sit in open position. 3 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 300213 | open position | G, root position | G | 2 open strings |
| 33021x | open position | G, root position | C | 1 open string |
| 33023x | open position | G, root position | D | barred |
| 335535 | 3rd fret | G, root position | A | barred |
| x-10-7-7-8-8 | 7th fret | G, root position | C | all fretted |
| x-10-10-12-10-10 | 10th fret | G, root position | D | barred |
| 15-15-12-14-x-x | 12th fret | G, root position | A | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 15 drop 2 and 3 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Gsus2sus4
In which keys. Every note of Gsus2sus4 belongs to C major (the V), D minor (the iv), E minor (the ♭III), F major (the ii), G major (the I), G minor (the i), A minor (the ♭VII) and Bb major (the vi).
What to play over Gsus2sus4
Every note of Gsus2sus4 is in G major, G mixolydian, G dorian, G natural minor and G harmonic minor.
Chords near Gsus2sus4
Change one note of Gsus2sus4 and you have Gsus2 (drop the fourth), Gsus4 (drop the ninth), Gadd9 (the fourth becomes a major third), Gmadd9 (the fourth becomes a minor third), G7sus4 (the ninth becomes a flat seventh) or G11 (add the flat seventh).
Gsus2sus4 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 Gsus2sus4’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.