D Suspended 2nd
sus2
0 - 2 - 7Root + major 2nd + perfect 5th
About D Suspended 2nd
Dsus2 removes the third from D major and puts the E in its place — D, E, A. On guitar it is the standard D shape with one finger lifted, and the result is bright, open and modeless: nothing in the chord says whether the music is major or minor.
The notes
D, E, A. The E is a major second above the root. Unlike the fourth in a sus4, it does not lean — the chord sits comfortably and can be held indefinitely.
That stability is why sus2 chords appear as textures rather than as gestures: a bar of Dsus2 is a colour, a bar of Dsus4 is a delay.
On the fretboard
Lift the middle finger from D and the chord is there — the open high E string supplies the second. It is one of the cheapest chords on the instrument in terms of effort.
In fingerstyle it often appears with the open B ringing as well, which adds the sixth and produces a wash of open strings rather than a defined chord. That ambiguity is usually the intention.
Where it shows up
Folk, indie and ambient guitar writing, especially in the key of D where the open strings support it. It is also common in drop-D tuning, where the low D doubles the root two octaves below.
In a progression it usually replaces plain D for a bar or two rather than for a whole section — held too long, the missing third starts to sound like an omission rather than a choice.
It also sounds different depending on what precedes it. After D major the missing third reads as air; after D minor it reads as brightening, because the ear supplies the third it last heard.