Csus2 Chord on Ukulele
Csus2 = C – D – G (Root, Major 2nd, Perfect 5th)
Csus2 opens with the G string ringing free, then asks for a small two-string barre: index finger flat across the E and A strings at the third fret, plus the middle finger reaching back to the C string's second fret. It replaces C major's clear third with a second above the root instead, and the resulting shape trades one open string (the A, fretted in plain C major) for a slightly busier three-fret span across the middle of the neck.
A suspended second chord removes the note that makes a triad major or minor — its third — and replaces it with the second scale degree instead, leaving the chord's quality genuinely ambiguous, neither bright nor dark, until it resolves somewhere. Csus2 works as a decorative substitute for plain C major, often used right before or after the C triad itself to create brief melodic movement without changing the underlying harmony's function. It has an open, airy character, popular in folk and singer-songwriter ukulele arrangements that want gentle harmonic motion inside a single chord rather than switching to a different one. Because the barred E and A strings both land on notes belonging to the chord (G and C respectively), the ear doesn't perceive dissonance so much as a kind of pleasant harmonic openness.
Fingerings
Open Position
How to Practice It
This shape asks for a barre and an independent finger at the same time, which is a genuine coordination step up from Cm's plain three-string barre: keep the index finger flat across the E and A strings while the middle finger reaches back one fret and one string over to the C string. Practice resolving Csus2 into plain C major by lifting the middle finger and sliding the barre up one fret — from second fret on the C string to third — which is exactly the physical motion of a sus2-to-major resolution. This chord is often used as a decorative move rather than a destination, so practicing it as a quick embellishment right before landing on C is more useful than holding it alone for long.
Common Progressions
- Csus2 – C, a brief embellishment resolving into the plain I chord
- I(sus2) – IV – V – I (Csus2 – F – G – C)
- Csus2 – Am – F – G, substituting for the first chord of the standard four-chord loop
- vi – IV – I(sus2) (Am – F – Csus2), landing on the open, unresolved color
FAQ
- What makes a sus2 chord sound different from a major or minor chord?
- It removes the third entirely, replacing it with the second scale degree, so the chord has no major or minor color of its own — it sits in a genuinely ambiguous, unresolved space until it moves to another chord.
- How is Csus2 typically used in a progression?
- Usually as a quick decorative move right before or after plain C major, adding brief melodic motion within the same harmonic function rather than serving as its own destination chord.
- Is Csus2 harder to play than plain C major?
- Yes — it needs a small two-string barre plus an independent middle finger reaching to a different string and fret, compared to C major's single-finger shape.
- How does Csus2 resolve back to C major?
- By lifting the middle finger and sliding the barre up one fret, from the second fret to the third on the C string — the same physical gesture that produces the sus2-to-major harmonic resolution.
- Why does Csus2 use a barre when Csus4 doesn't, given they're closely related chords?
- It comes down to where each chord's notes happen to fall on the GCEA strings — Csus2's replacement note and its fifth both land on the same third fret, inviting a barre, while Csus4's fall on different frets entirely, so no barre shortcut is available there.
- Can Csus2 be strummed as a standalone color chord rather than a passing one?
- Yes, particularly in folk and indie-leaning arrangements that favor its open, unresolved ambiguity as a texture in its own right, holding it for a full bar or more rather than treating it strictly as a quick embellishment before C major.
- Which note does Csus2 replace, and which note does it add instead?
- It drops the major third, E, entirely, and replaces it with the second scale degree, D — that single substitution is the whole difference between a plain C triad's clear major color and Csus2's open, suspended ambiguity.
Csus2 on other instruments: Csus2 on Guitar, Csus2 on Piano. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.