A suspended chord, often abbreviated as "sus chord," is a musical chord where the (major or minor) third is omitted and replaced with a perfect fourth or a major second. This omission creates an open sound, while the dissonance between the fourth and fifth or second and root creates tension
. There are two basic sus chords: the sus4 chord, where a perfect 4th replaces the 3rd of the chord, and the sus2 chord, where a major 2nd replaces the 3rd of the chord
. In a sus chord, the third note of the chord is always omitted and replaced with the specified note (e.g., sus4 or sus2)
. Sus chords are commonly used in popular music and jazz, and they can add movement and variety to musical compositions
