Whether you hear that little something extra on a major chord or you want to add a little something extra, sus chords can fill the bill quite nicely. These chords are not major chords nor are they minor chords but can alter the notes of the major or minor triad to create that “extra” sound.

Let’s start at the beginning. If you remember,  a key is made up of 7 notes. For instance, in the key of C major, those notes are C D E F G A B. To create the C chord you use the “major triad” which is made up of the Root, or 1 note, the 3rd note, and the 5th note of that key. For the key of C that is CEG for the C major chord. The C is the 1st, E  is the 3rd, and G is the 5th.

Played on the ukulele, the C chord is open G (4th string), open C (3rd string), open E (2nd string), and the 1st string fingered at the 3rd fret. You can see that CEG triad at work, and when using all four strings the C appears twice - the open C string and the 1st string at the 3rd fret (the C chord shape).

Starting with this information, you can now create a sus2 or a sus4 for the C major chord. Let’s begin with the sus2. A sus chord “suspends” the third note in the triad. In the case of a C chord, that will be the E note. To create a C sus2 chord, replace (or suspend) the E note with the 2 note of the key of C, or the D note. This gives you a chord with the notes C D G as the C sus2 chord.

For the sus4, suspend the third note of the triad again (in the case of a C Chord, that is the E note), and add the 4th note of the key of C. In the example using the key of C, that will be the F note. That means the C sus4 are the notes, CFG.

To recap, the sus chords are made by suspending (or replacing) the 3rd note in a major triad and adding either the 2nd note or the 4th note of the key (depending on whether you are creating a sus2 or a sus4).

You’ll find sus chords used quite often in riffs, or to add a little “difference” to a chord that is repeated in a verse or chorus. It changes up the sound and adds interest.

A little tidbit about sus chords is that they “twin”, meaning that the shape for a sus4 in one key may be a sus2 in another key and sound just the same - they just use two different names.

Try creating sus2 and sus4 chords from other major chords like  G D A F. Listen to how they change the sound of a “plain” major chord. Maybe it will inspire you to use sus chords more often!