how do you substitute sus, aug, and dim chords fit in?

[slashjimipage]

i know minors, majors, dom7, ya know all the basics but where do sus, dim and aug chords fit in, say in the key of c major. Sometimes people give me jazz links so i'll clarify this is for rock music on the heavy side. thanx

[windmill]

not that I really know BUT you could try subbing the Isus chords for the I chord or alternate it for a few beats.

 

The dim and aug chords are generally used as passing chords when changing eg IV-IVdim-V.

 

Hopefully someone else will pass this way soon.....

 

OR you could post at the VETs forum,some of the old duffers love this sort of thing.

[BassistSeth]

I find that a lot of the wierder chords sound cool if you just use them instead of the normal chords.

 

Like, instead of Em - D - C - D

Play Em7 - D - Cadd9 - D and it adds a lot of life to the progression. You'll probably notice the difference a lot better if you do it on acoustic or clean electric.

 

Or you could listen to some Rush. Alex Lifeson is crazy with wierd sus, 9, dim chords in a very hard-rock way.

 

'Luck.

[BassistSeth]

Oh, my bad. I don't think I answered your question at all.

Essentially, if all the notes in the chord are in the key you're playing in, you're all set.

 

But since you probably want an easy answer:

 

I 7, add9 sus4

II m7, add9, sus4

III m7, sus4

IV maj7, add9, sus4

V 7, add9, sus4

VI m7, add9

VII dim7

 

But the only real answer to what works in a piece of music is what sounds good to your ears.

 

Peace.

[campaigner]

The most common use of a sus chord is to use the tonic of the key before the last bar of a chord progression, the Vsus2 for a minor key, the Vsus4 for a major key.

So, instead of e.g. C - F - G - C you could play

C - F - G - Gsus4 - C.

Or in A minor e.g. Am - Dm - G - Gsus2 - Am.

 

That's the formal use i think. But I like to hammer on the second or fourth it in a longer one chord "progression", for example D Dsus4 D and so on... you got it.

[johan10]

Dim chords are often used as a sort of a dominant chord, in C major a Bdim would do for a G7 without the root. However, there are a lot of other opportunities with the dim chord than this function. Listen to Dream Theater, if you know - and like them...

 

the sus and aug chord can be used in many ways to "fat up" the music.

 

But, what the heck, do what sounds good to you! Very often, you don't even have to be aware that you are following the "rules" of music, you just follow them 'cause it sounds good...