This is a suspended chord and its third has been replaced with a fourth. Why then is this so much more dissonant than this? For years I operated under the assumption that it was that half step away from the third that was causing the trouble.
But that can’t be the case because what about this minor chord? So here’s a clue because if this is usually called a sus4 and this is usually called a sus2, when you see this you’re usually going to hear it referred to as a 9. 1, 3, 5, 7, 9.
Okay I get it. So the 9 lives low enough in the structure of the chord that it coexists peacefully in both the minor or the major versions of the chord. So shouldn’t the 11?
Well it sounds great with the minor but with a major chord we’re back to the same problem. Listen as I replace this with this. The key to understand this is to understand that this note has this note in it.
You might very well think of this chord as two pairs of fifths. Keep going and there’s your F#. And if we were to start this on an A minor that would be a 13.
And back in the key of C minor this Bb, our flattened seventh, gives us our suspended fourth and our ninth is our 13. (buzzing)
