The course › Unit 12: Accompanying like a pro
Lesson 67 of 72 · sus, add9, 6, maj7, m7: one note changes, a whole new feeling
In a triad, the third decides everything: major, the chord sounds bright; minor, it sounds melancholy. So what happens if you take it away?
Replace the E in C – E – G with the fourth, F: C – F – G is Csus4 (“C sus four”). Replace it with the second, D: C – D – G is Csus2. Without a third, the chord is neither major nor minor: it floats, suspended. And it often wants to resolve to the triad: the F steps down to E, or the D steps up to E.
C and G stay. The E is replaced by F (sus4, in orange) or by D (sus2, in pink).
Did you know?: “Sus” comes from suspension, a very old technique: in Baroque music, a note from the previous chord stays “suspended” over the new chord, rubs against it for a moment, then steps down to resolve. Pop kept the sound… and the name.
Each measure: the suspended chord, then its resolution. Only one finger moves each time; listen to the tension melt away. Measure 3, Gsus4 (D – G – C): your 5th finger’s C steps down to B, which you play with 4.
Another idea: keep the third and add a note on top of the chord. Each added note brings its own color:
Tip: Am7 and C6 have exactly the same notes: A, C, E, G! The bass decides: over an A, you hear Am7; over a C, you hear C6.
Play the chord’s notes together, in any order and any octave. Think “basic chord + one note,” or “third replaced” for the sus chords.
Here’s the secret of many pop pianists: they play the same charts as everyone else, but they color the chords. Take C – Am – F – G, the ’50s progression:
Thanks to inversions, the right hand stays around E: from Am7 to Fmaj7, only one note moves, the G stepping down to F!
Why this way: One color at a time: each new chord is first compared with the plain chord, like major and minor in lesson 44, then tried out in a chart you know. Your ear remembers the sound, your hand remembers the shape; the symbol comes last.
Watch out: Don’t color everything, all the time: an add9 or a maj7 now and then is a spice. Under a melody, check that the added note doesn’t clash with the singer’s note.
Right hand alone, around the E above middle C. Watch which fingers stay in place from one chord to the next.
The same chart, first in black and white, then in color: hear how Cadd9, Am7 and Fmaj7 change the mood without changing the bass. The plain chart once, then the colored version twice. Left hand: the bass on 1 and 3. Right hand: two quarter notes per chord; for the colors, your hand moves up around the E and then barely moves at all.
← Lesson 66: A song, from start to finish Lesson 68: Moving bass lines →