Thread: I suck at guitar

Yeah i ment reading music though. But i agree on that.

Music theory is fun!

What would Gsus do?

That means that you are adding another note from the G scale inot the G chord instead of a the third. It could mean a G sus4 or a G sus2. It is used a lot in guitar on D chords because on the high string (high E) a normal D chord is uses the 2nd fret on the e string. A sus4 will be the 3rd fret and thus a G note. A sus 2 is an open e string. It is used in many rock songs. A G sus2 would be a G chord with 2nd fret on G string. A G sus4 would be a G chord with first fret on b string. In jazz it gets just a little more complicated where they might add a 2 and a 4, essentially overlaying a different chordal tone on top of the G.

Good thread, I'm learning music theory now. I'm assuming that music theory can be applied to banjo and ukulele as well?

Actually in jazz when you say sus it only means sus4. We call sus2 add9, 2nds are pretty much always called ninths. When you talk about intervals in jazz you usually talk about them in terms of thirds rather than straight up the scale. Like 1,3,5,7,(2)9,(4)11,(6)13. This way you pay more attention to what color of chord you make with your note choice.

You've got a few of those chords mixed up. A sus4 adds a D, it's fretted x02230(high e optional, I prefer it without). A sus2 adds an open b string, x02200(one of my favorite open position chords).

I hope you caught my joke.

sus4 doesn't ADD anything, it simply replaces the 3rd scale degree with the 4th scale degree which generally wants to resolve back down to the 3rd (Pinball Wizard anyone?). But ya, arguing chord naming conventions is neither here nor there, as there are many schools of thought to it. Some jazzers will agree that anything called a sus is a sus4 and you need to denote the 2 for it to be a sus2, but some other jazzers will tell you it's better to be clear right from the get go, but again.. doesn't really matter, as long as we're all speaking the same language.

But yes, without theory you're fairly oblivious to all the wonders of music theory. Some of my personal favorites for re-harmonization are using sub5s in place of secondary doms. Secondary dominant being something like a V7/II- in the key of C this would be A7 (the V7 of II-, II- in C being D-) which can be replaced instead with the Sub5/II- sub5s are the dominant a half-step up from the resolution (in the key of C this would now be D#7 which resolves down to D-, from there take her on home V7 -> I --- following the whole path D#7 -> D-7, G7 -> Cmaj7)

Theory is cool!!


Sorry, Stonedape for the blatant II-, V7 -> I. Bit too standard of cadence for your free jazz? JKJKJK, I kid

I feel like punching my guitar in the face today and I haven't even touched it!