About Bbsus2sus4 — drop 3 voicings
Bbsus2sus4 is Bb, C, Eb and F. It leaves out the 3rd and includes both the and .
Without a or , Bbsus2sus4 is neither major nor minor. In jazz, sus chords can stand without resolving.
To hear what the adds, start with .
Hear the change
The 2nd drops two frets to a repeated root. The root, 4th, and 5th stay put.
Also written Bbsus2/4 or Bb suspended 2nd and 4th.
What is drop 3
Drop the third voice from the top an octave instead. The wider gap skips a string, so the muted string is part of the shape.
That result, 3–R–5–7, is the shape usually meant by drop 3. Named by its bass note, as the inversions are here, it is the 1st inversion.
More familiar jazz shapes are drop 3 than drop 2.
How to use Bbsus2sus4
In which keys. Every note of Bbsus2sus4 belongs to C minor (the ♭VII), C# major (the vi), Eb major (the V), F minor (the iv), G minor (the ♭III), Ab major (the ii), Bb major (the I) and Bb minor (the i).
What to play over Bbsus2sus4
Useful scales
- +DGA
Contains Bbsus2sus4 and adds major third, sixth and major seventh.
- +DGAb
Adds major third, sixth and flat seventh. The flat seventh pushes the sound toward a dominant chord.
- +DbGbAb
Contains Bbsus2sus4 and adds minor third, flat thirteenth and flat seventh.
- +DbGAb
Contains Bbsus2sus4 and adds minor third, sixth and flat seventh.
- +DbGbA
Contains Bbsus2sus4 and adds minor third, flat thirteenth and major seventh.
Chords near Bbsus2sus4
Change one note
open strings
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.