How to play the A Suspended 2nd chord on guitar
Asus2 relieves the cramped three-in-a-fret A shape by removing a finger, which makes it both easier and more atmospheric. Players who find A major uncomfortable often discover this one by accident and keep it.
A Suspended 2nd swaps the third for the second, giving A, B, E. Losing the third is what makes a sus chord sound unresolved and open — it wants to fall back to the plain A chord.
Finger it one string at a time
- low E string: don't play it.
- A string: play it open.
- D string: fret 2 with your middle finger.
- G string: fret 2 with your ring finger.
- B string: play it open.
- high E string: play it open.
Remove your finger from the B string of an A major chord.
What makes this shape awkward
- 1 string stays silent, so your strumming hand has to start on the right string. Aim the pick rather than sweeping all six.
- 3 strings ring open, which is what gives this shape its sustain — but it also means any finger leaning against a neighbouring string will deaden it. Arch your knuckles.
Where you'll use it
Asus2 appears in 1 of the play-along progression in RiffRoute. These are the actual sequences it sits in:
- Windfall Picking (Acoustic Folk, 90 BPM) —
C → C7 → Am → Asus2 → Asus4 → Am
Chords it's usually played with
In the progressions that use Asus2, these turn up alongside it most often — learning them together is more useful than learning Asus2 alone.
Hear it and check yourself
Reading a diagram only gets you so far — the part that decides whether Asus2 sounds right is whether every string rings cleanly. RiffRoute plays the chord back, listens while you strum it, and tells you which string is buzzing.