Suspended second shapessus2

It sounds open, and neither major nor minor. With no third it works over either quality, which is why strummed parts lean on it.

7 moveable shapes. None has an open string in it, so each one plays every root there is; the dots are degrees, and R is the root.

One shape, twelve chords

Pick a root and every diagram below moves to it. Nothing about any of the grips changes — only the fret they start on, and each one starts somewhere different because they are rooted on different strings.

Showing Csus2. Every voicing of it, open strings included, is on its own chord page.

Root on the low E string

The lowest root available, so these are the fullest-sounding shapes and the ones that carry a band. F at the first fret, G at the third, A at the fifth: the shape is the same and the fret is the whole of the difference.

8-10-10-x-8-10

5 notes · 3 frets

Root on the A string

The other half of the pair. Almost every progression is played by alternating these with the low E shapes, because a root a fourth up the neck is a root two frets along the string below — the hand barely moves.

x35533

5 notes · 3 frets

Root on the D string

No bass note under it, which is the point rather than a shortcoming: these sit above a bass player instead of competing with one, and they reach the extensions the lower shapes have no fingers left for.

x-x-10-12-13-10

4 notes · 4 frets

Inversions

The same chord with something other than the root underneath. You reach for one of these because of what the bass is doing, not because of what the chord is — a bass line that walks while the harmony stays put is made of these.

2nd inversion

5 in the bass. 2 ways to get it.

5 on the D string, root on the G string

xx553x

3 notes · 3 frets

5 on the G string, root on the B string

x-x-x-12-13-10

3 notes · 4 frets

2 in the bass

2 in the bass. 2 ways to get it.

2 on the A string, root on the G string

x55588

5 notes · 4 frets

2 on the D string, root on the B string

x-x-12-12-13-15

4 notes · 4 frets

The other suspended shapes

Suspended fourth Suspended second and fourth Power chord Dominant seventh suspended fourth

Every voicing of one particular sus2 chord — including the open-string ones that do not move — is on that chord's own page, linked under each shape above. All the moveable shapes for every quality are on the shapes index, and the suspended and power chords as a family are on their own page.