Riffin’ is a free weekly video
Video Guitar Lesson
Many if not most of you are probably familiar with suspended chords, at least the most common sus2 and sus4 forms in open position. You might be playing them without even knowing it. This lesson is intended to give you another way to think about suspended chords, and how they give us melodic opportunities within a riff.
First off, a little theory. A chord is made up of the first, third, and fifth notes of the scale that begins on the note that names the chord (called the root). A suspended chord is created when note 3 is moved up to note 4 (sus4) or down to note 2 (sus2). They’re very commonly used in lots of musical settings and have a cool, slightly dissonant sound. They create tension (dissonance) because that 2nd or 4th of the scale has an innate need to resolve back to the 3rd.
We can take advantage of this in creating melodic patterns over particular chords. You may have learned these forms as I did, as box shapes, and put them together in different ways as called for by the song. But if we view the relationship of notes 2, 3, and 4 as a segment of the scale instead of as components of separate chords, a whole set of melodic options is created. Say you play a chord pattern like this:
D – Dsus2 – D – Dsus4
Your first impulse might be to see it as three chords strung together. But another way to view it is as a D5 with a melody on top that goes F#-E-F#-G….in other words, the chord hasn’t actually changed, we’ve just added a melody on top of a power chord. From here it’s easy to see how we can also incorporate notes 1 and 5 of the scale – or any other you can reach – to create more different melodies.
For example, try playing a modified D5 like this:
index finger: G string, 2nd fret
middle finger: B string, 3rd fret
pinky: E string, 5th fret
This creates a nice bright D5 voicing with the 5t of the scale on top. Now use that chord in this sequence:
D5 – Dsus4 – D – Dsus4 – D5
Now we have a D harmony with a melody on top of A-G-F#-G-A.
The same principle will apply to every chord, it’s just a matter of figuring out which notes are reachable. Your knowledge of the scales is important here: your ability to figure out the location of each melodic note depends on your familiarity with the scale. So once again, we come back to the central role that scales play in the creation of riffs, and another way that knowledge can be used.
This concept can be applied to more than just suspended chords, but it’s a good place to start. The big picture idea is this: instead of thinking of strings of chords, think of melodies over a consistent harmony and use the scale to find the notes. Explore and have fun!
Riffin’ is a free weekly video