ripock
Well-known member
Does anyone have any suggestions for things to do with the sus4 when composing/improvising?
I am restricting my question to the sus4 because it seems to be highly preferred to the sus2 (at least in the books I have glanced at) and, secondly, because I don't really like the sound of the sus2. To me it sounds rather blah and as if it isn't going anywhere, whereas the sus4 sounds like it needs to move forward in the progression.
Aside from the usual application (breaking up the monotony of a major chord in a measure) I have had a few ideas.
Inspired by our younger millennial friends and colleagues who, unlike us, have the fortune of being able to choose their gender, I was thinking that perhaps I could choose the "gender" of my progression and be initially ambiguous.
For example, I could do something like:
Esus4
B7
Asus4
Most people's ears would assume the E ionian, since that is the most common harmonization. However what if in the next iteration the chord qualities were Em, B7, Am...a little progression of the E Harmonic Minor. That would be novel.
Another thing with which I was toying was using the sus4 as a passing chord, of sorts. For instance, if I wanted to end on a B7, I would go a little bit higher on the fret board and walk back down to the B7:
C#7sus4
C7sus4
B7sus4
Bb7sus4
B7
I am restricting my question to the sus4 because it seems to be highly preferred to the sus2 (at least in the books I have glanced at) and, secondly, because I don't really like the sound of the sus2. To me it sounds rather blah and as if it isn't going anywhere, whereas the sus4 sounds like it needs to move forward in the progression.
Aside from the usual application (breaking up the monotony of a major chord in a measure) I have had a few ideas.
Inspired by our younger millennial friends and colleagues who, unlike us, have the fortune of being able to choose their gender, I was thinking that perhaps I could choose the "gender" of my progression and be initially ambiguous.
For example, I could do something like:
Esus4
B7
Asus4
Most people's ears would assume the E ionian, since that is the most common harmonization. However what if in the next iteration the chord qualities were Em, B7, Am...a little progression of the E Harmonic Minor. That would be novel.
Another thing with which I was toying was using the sus4 as a passing chord, of sorts. For instance, if I wanted to end on a B7, I would go a little bit higher on the fret board and walk back down to the B7:
C#7sus4
C7sus4
B7sus4
Bb7sus4
B7