Suspended chords

A suspension is something left hanging.

Musical suspensions are left hanging too.
Listen to the example below.
You might hear this as a typical ending for works of a dramatic or religious nature.


Csus4 C Csus C

RH: F-C E-C D-C E-C

LH: C-G C-G C-G C-G


In classical theory, a suspension is a non-chord tone, ie. a note not found in the traid.
It is a step above a chord tone, held ove from the previous chod, resolving to a chord tone.

In today's pop music, suspended chords no longer need to be set up or resolved although they frequently are.


The most common suspended chord is the suspended 4th.
The note is raised a 1/2 tone above the 3rd.


Csus4 C7sus4