Category: Guitar Theory

December 16, 2011

What is a Sus 4 Chord and How is it Played on Guitar?

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You’ve probably seen the chord symbol D sus 4 in many popular guitar songs. But what does this really mean?

Let’s start by looking at what a chord really is.

A chord is three or more notes played simultaneously.  Chords provide accompaniment and support for melodies.

There are many different types of chords; the most common are called triads.

A triad is a chord that contains three different notes.  To build a major triad, take the first, third and fifth notes from the major scale.

In the C major scale, the notes are:

C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C

C major scale in tab and standard notation for guitar

C major scale in tab and standard notation for guitar

 

If you were to take the notes 1-3-5 from the C major scale, your result would be the notes C-E-G.  These are the notes required for a C major chord.

 

C major scale with major triad

C major scale with major triad

There are many C’s, E’s and G’s on the neck of the guitar.  You can play any combination of the notes C-E-G, and you will have a C major chord.  You may double and even triple the notes as needed.  The most common way to play a major chord is in root position.  In root position, the root note, or 1, is the lowest sounding note in the chord.  In other words, a C major chord in root position has C as the bass note.

Below you will find a very popular fingering for C major.

C Major

C major triad guitar fingering

C major triad guitar fingering

 

C major barre chord

C major barre chord for guitar

To build a sus 4 chord, all you do is take the first, fourth and fifth notes from the major scale.  So this means for a C sus 4 chord, you would need the notes:

 

C-F-G

1-4-5

C sus 4 formula

C sus 4 formula

Here is one fingering for C sus 4.

 

C sus 4

C sus 4 guitar chord diagram

C sus 4 guitar chord diagram

C sus 4 chord diagram for guitar

C sus 4 chord diagram for guitar

Now let’s look at how to build a D sus 4 chord.  To play a D sus 4 chord, take 1-4-5 out of the D major scale.

The D major scale consists of the following notes:

D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D

 

D sus 4 chord formula

D sus 4 chord formula for guitar

Therefore, the notes in D sus 4 are:

D-G-A

1-4-5

Here is a popular fingering for D sus 4.

D sus 4

D sus 4 guitar chord fingering diagram

D sus 4 guitar chord fingering diagram

By the way, the word “sus” is an abbreviation for the word suspended.  So a D sus 4 chord is more formally known as D suspended 4.

As you can probably now guess, understanding the notes on the fretboard and the basics of scales will make it much easier to learn guitar chords.  Obviously, when you understand how guitar chords are put together, you will find it much easier to remember guitar chords.

Here is a proven way to totally understand and use guitar theory superfast -> How to totally understand guitar theory superfast.

September 6, 2011

Can Guitar Music Theory Destroy Music for Pleasure?

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The other night I was out with some of my old high school buddies.  In our conversation, an interesting question was posed by my buddy Rob.  He asked:

“Don, with all of the training you’ve had in music, can you still listen to music for pleasure?”

Rob continued and asked:

“Can you shut it off, or are you always analyzing music?”

So what do you think?

If you really understand guitar music theory and how to apply music theory to guitar, are you forced to analyze everything you listen to, or can you shut it off whenever you want?

Before we answer this, we need to make sure we’re on the same page on what music theory actually is.

Music theory is simply a way organizing what composers have been doing for hundreds of years.  Unfortunately, music theory is often taught so it seems like a bunch of useless boring things given to music students as a form of mental torture!  The good news is when you learn music theory the right way, it’s fun and often becomes addicting.

When you apply music theory to the guitar, it’s usually called guitar theory, or guitar music theory.

With a good understanding of guitar theory, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.  You get to learn what other guitar greats have done and you’ll see why it works so well.  With a good understanding of guitar theory, you see the big picture as well as the little picture.  You understand how everything works.  It’s sort of like how the pieces of a puzzle fit together.

You’ve probably heard that knowledge is power.  Napoleon Hill took this a step further by saying:

“Knowledge is only potential power.”

What he meant by this is that knowledge is only power when we actually use it.  So to get the most out of guitar theory, you must apply it to the guitar.

You need to see how it works on the guitar fretboard.

You must see how guitar scales and guitar chords really work on the fretboard, and how they are used in songs.

Okay, so now that we’re on the same page about what guitar theory actually is, let’s get back to the original question.

As you understand things more, don’t you usually appreciate them more?

The same is true with guitar music theory.  When you understand guitar theory, you will actually appreciate music even more.

When you understand guitar theory, you will hear things in music you never heard before.  This is a common thing I see with my guitar students.  As they start to learn more guitar fretboard theory, my students start to hear guitar parts they never noticed before.  This is really powerful stuff!  On top of that they also start to understand what these parts are.

When you understand how things work, you’ll be able to make them work for you.  In other words, as you begin to “get it”, you start to find it easier and easier to learn songs, and guitar solos.  You also find it easier and easier to create your own songs and killer guitar solos too!

Once you grasp guitar theory, you always have the option to turn it on, or off—and it’s very easy to do.   You can listen to music and analyze everything, or you can sit back and just listen to the music purely for pleasure. It’s a lot of fun doing this.  You’ll love it too.

If you are ready to discover a simple proven way to learn guitar theory and improve your guitar playing faster, check out Guitar Theory – The Absolute Essentials of Music Theory for Guitar.

December 13, 2010

Busting the Guitar Music Theory Myth: If I Learn Too Much Theory, It Will Cramp My Style and Creativity

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This is one of the biggest myths in music.

Some guitarists use it as an excuse for being lazy, while others genuinely believe that learning guitar music theory will somehow stifle their creativity and destroy their style and originality.  It’s time for the truth…

First let’s consider what music theory really is.

Music theory is simply a way of learning how sounds are organized into a coherent artistic whole.

When you learn more about music, you are learning what the great composers and performers have done.  This means you can learn from them and not have to reinvent the wheel.

Think about Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Randy Rhoads, Zakk Wylde, Steve Morse, Al Di Meola, and Stevie Ray Vaughan to name just some of the guitar greats.  These players were or are obsessive about learning everything about music.  This is regardless of whether they studied music in a formal setting or not.

None of the great guitar players learned guitar in a vacuum.

As you learn new things you will have additional tools that you can decide to use or not.

Just because you learn a new theoretical concept, a new way to practice a scale, or new way to create a melodic pattern, does not mean that you have to be a slave to it.  You are the one that gets to decide whether you use it.

Let’s say you want to write your own song or guitar solo.  You can choose to shut off your analytical brain and just use your ears to come up with what sounds best.  Or, you can use some of your knowledge to consider what should work best. You also have a third option.  This is the one I use the most: you can use a combination of the two.

“Although knowledge of it [theory] is not a prerequisite of being a great guitar player or musician, I feel that if you are going to learn to speak a language, it helps to know how to read and write it.”

Steve Vai

So why take the very long trial-and-error road when you can shorten your learning curve and learn from the best?  It just doesn’t make sense to take the long route when a much shorter one is available.

Become a better guitar player now, by understanding guitar music theory and how to apply it to the guitar-> Guitar Theory: It’s Easier Than You Think.

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