How to Play an A sus Chord on Guitar

The A sus chord is a very popular sound in the world of rock music. You have likely heard this chord hundreds and hundreds of times, whether it is Led Zeppelin or Green Day and didn't even realize it. In this article you will learn how to construct and play an A sus chord of your own on the guitar. The "sus" that you see in standard chord diagrams is short for "suspended" due to the unresolved sound that suspended chords create.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Guitar

1. Play the A string (fifth string) "open." Open means to play a string without fretting a note. This is the root of the chord.

2. Place your forefinger on the second fret of the D string (fourth string) and play the note. The is the fifth of the chord.

3. Place your middle finger on the second fret of the G string (third string) and play the note. This note is the root note played one octave higher.

4. Using your pinky, hold down the third fret of the B string (second string) and play the note. This is the sus or "suspended" note. It is referred to as a suspended note because it feels as if the note is suspended and wants to resolve to the note below it.

5. Play the high E string (first string) open. This is the fifth of the chord, one octave higher than the fifth you played in Step 2.

6. Strum all of the notes. Continue to hold down all of the notes you are currently fretting and strum all of the notes including the open notes from Steps 1 through 5. That's it. You now know how to play an A sus chord on the guitar!

Tips & Warnings

• A very common sound is to turn the A sus chord into a standard A major chord by removing your pinky from the B string and playing the second fret of the B string with your forefinger. Go back and forth between the two chords and you will hear a very familiar classic rock sound.