Sus Chords Pt 2: Advanced Chord Concepts and Suspended Variations [CHORDS + MUSIC THEORY]

While I call the chromatic cluster at 01:26 “unlistenable," it’s totally acceptable to write “unlistenable” music. Sometimes you want crunchy dissonance. In this instance, it’s not totally horrible, so maybe I exaggerated a bit. However, in a big arrangement with more layers, small things like that can really muddy up a mix. I hesitate to call something “wrong” in music, but to me, singing a G# over a Dsus4 in the key of A major is just “wrong."
Also, the melody has the word “keep” notated as a G# but I ended up singing it as an A instead, but that’s just an error and shouldn’t affect the mechanics of the demonstration at all.

I am not picky between 4ths and 11ths, while many music teachers and composers are. As a guitarist, sometimes you can’t hit an 11th because your fingers aren’t long and have to instead play the 11th an octave lower as a 4th. Voicings DO matter! It helps to think of 4ths and 11ths as the same, but it's also worth noting that sometimes the addition of the 11th versus the 4th will provide a more “clear” and “vivid” voicing. When the 4th is added instead of the 11th, harsh dissonances can occur due to the small distance between our 4th, and our 3rd or 5th. Same with 2nd’s and 9ths- I consider them to be the same, even though they’re different. The dissonances that occur in a MinAdd2 for example, are very practical and usable - in my experience, the clashing that occurs between the 2nd and minor 3rd of a minAdd2 chord is absolutely lovely in the correct context.

CHORD NAMES ARE LIMITED! They tell you the notes of the chord but not always the order that those notes must be played. If voicings are crucial to your compositions, use standard notation or tab instead of just chord symbols.

On Maj7sus4 and Maj7sus2- I made a mistake while speaking and unfortunately it confuses an already confusing topic. The chord names Maj7sus2 and Maj7sus4 are sometimes seen, but it's important to recognize that those same notes are often seen with different names.

Maj7sus4 chords were supposed to be mentioned in this video but somehow got left out. When we see a Maj7sus4 chord, what are most likely seeing is a dominant 7th chord being played without a 5th and instead being played over its 4th degree. For example, a Cmaj7sus4 is the notes C F G B. This resolves very well back to a regular C major. You can hear it almost sounds like a V-I progression, except the bass note is static.
The notes G B and F are the root, third, and flat 7 of a G7 chord. The fifth would be D, which isn't present, but is not necessary to create “dominant tension” to lead us home to C. Therefore, a lot of times you see a chord written as “Cmaj7sus4”, it’s probably functioning as a G7 and should probably be written that way. There are exceptions, and in these cases I think it’s up to the composer to decide which is the best way to notate the chord. G7/C (no fifth) in my opinion would be a much more clarifying title for a Cmaj7sus4, since 9 times out of 10, that group of notes will function as a G7 chord.
SORRY ABOUT ALL THAT

LASTLY

I said Sus#4 is not a real name, because in my understanding of traditional theory, a suspended chord must include a NATURAL second or fourth. I believe the “correct” name for an Dsus#4 is just Dadd#4(no third) or Dadd#11(no third), which doesn't feel right to me

Another concept I didn't cover is the susb2 or susb9. Honestly, I'm confused on what really IS a susb2 or a susb9, since many resources claim that a susb9 chord actually contains a minor third, which defies the entire point of suspended chords in my mind. Experimenting with a 1-5-b9 resolving to a 1-3-5 can help create a nice Phrygian dominant tonality, and certainly experiment with that cluster of notes, but I am unfortunately unable to give a clear answer as to what a susb2/susb9 really should be all about. Maybe a friendly jazzmaster in the comment section will give us some clarity?

These lessons exists solely through the funding of my Patreon supporters, aka, “the finest humans on this planet”. I especially owe my thanks to these members for their support, as should you if you enjoyed this video!

Linas Orentas
Joe Buote
Nick White
Patrick Ryan
Christopher Swanson
John Arnold
Jon Reddish
Brandon Combs
Sebastian
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Lord of the Chords
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BuzzWasHere
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Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:45 The Problem
02:01 Solutions
03:35 Classical Harmony
04:59 Applications To Funk Music
05:53 Suspended Powerchords
06:35 Add9 and Add11 Chords
07:48 7sus2 and 7sus4
09:21 Wrapping Up

[gagethemage]

"You can play it but you MUST know the consequences!" Jake is the fun yet responsible dad of guitar playing

[miker]

“It’s a good morning chord. Or you can make it a good night chord by strumming it backwards. Goodnight.” ... Awesome man!

[RCSmiths]

What I sincerely and deeply appreciate about this is how you go into detail about why while playing a certain sus chord might be wrong in a certain key given the chord progression, you still acknowledge how awesome it sounds and that it is still alright to break the rules every once in a while. Cheers for the lesson and information!

[CrisKRA]

I think Rick Beato calls your sus#4 chord a Lydian triad

[ThatOtherRaccoon]

That sus4 on "Falling" I thought was a pleasant dissonance. Also, I've always seen these Add Chords, thank you for explaining that because I've never been able to comprehend this until today.

[SignalsMusicStudio]

I highly suggest you read the description! YouTube made me shorten it down to fit, but it's got a lot of extra info regarding these topics.

[NominalTopic]

I actually *liked* that 'clash'..doesn't really matter... anyway- another EPIC video contribution.

[mpxzygj]

"The Immaculate Gyration" is better than any pop music I hear on the radio. Good job, Jake!

[Memento_Mori_Music]

The more I repeat the part at 1:28 with the clashing notes, the more my ears seem to accept it. The first time I heard it, it really stood out but now not so much. Weird.

[whatbreaksthesilence]

7:04 That's gotta be the best "Good night" I've gotten from someone

[Timliu]

Awesome video Jake! To be honest, I actually kind of like the clash between the Dsus4 and the G# note being sung. It gives the chord progression a little more tension that makes the resolution from the A much stronger, to my ears at least 😬😬😋😋

[sushislurpee]

Thanks for the video. at 1:25 Actually, my favorite version of the song was the original where the G# clashes with the G and A natural notes of the Dsus4. It makes the word "Falling" sound a little more emphatic and makes the resolution to A on the word "Down" that much more satisfying.

[DrBlort]

Great lesson as always! Also, "The-Simp-Sons" hahah!

[xisotopex]

I always come up with some great riffs while I am working through these excersizes...

[dreamakah]

'Immaculate Gyrations' is my new favorite song title. Also love these theory videos, which is an odd thing to type, but here we are...great stuff.

[OptimusNiaa]

7:04 - For some reason, maybe the sincerity of "goodnight, " it made me chuckle. Like, you brought up the notion, and then did it, like for a split second you were in a children's show.

[MathHoonFBfromFAS]

The sus4 in the neapolitan cadence adds so much depth to the musical thought

[whaleguy]

Time to turn in.


*Signals music studio has uploaded a video*


Well, sleep can wait :P

[IvanMndz]

Thank you for making my journey into understanding music theory a smooth and fun one, you truly are a great teacher.
I just bought your modal poster to show my appreciation
Lots of love,
Ivan Mendez

[YT]

This 2 part thing on sus chords turned out to be soo awesome, thank you!