Suspended Chords

Let’s look at how to play an F sharp suspended chord on the piano. We’ll also learn the pattern for building any other suspended second and suspended fourth chords.

What Are Suspended Chords?

There are two main types of suspended chords: sus2 and sus4.

Sus2 chords are built with the first, second and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Sus4 chords are built with the first, fourth and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Suspended chords are similar to major chords. We can build major chords using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. But suspended chords change the middle note. Instead of using the third note of the matching major scale for the middle note of the chord, a sus2 chord uses the second note of the scale, and a sus4 chord uses the fourth note of the scale.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

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How to Play an F Sharp Suspended 2 Chord

So let’s look at how to play an F sharp suspended 2 chord on the piano.

To build this chord, we’ll play the first, second and fifth notes of the F sharp major scale:

F♯ – G♯ – C♯

We can use this pattern to build any other suspended 2 chord. We’ll use the first, second and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

How to Play an F Sharp Suspended 4 Chord

Now let’s build an F sharp suspended 4 chord on the piano.

To build this chord, we’ll play the first, fourth and fifth notes of the F sharp major scale:

F♯ – B – C♯

We can use this pattern to build any other suspended fourth chord. We’ll use the first, fourth and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

If you see a chord labeled as F♯sus, without a number after it, it usually indicates a sus4 chord.

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types we can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Fifth
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth
Major Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to play F sharp suspended 2 and F sharp suspended 4 chords on the piano!

Suspended chords sound really nice. They may seem like they “leave you hanging”, and you may want to resolve them back to the matching major or minor chord (they can be substituted for both) at times. But I often play them without resolving them because I like the way they sound so much.

I hope you enjoy playing these beautiful chords!