Major 7th sus2
maj7sus2
0 - 2 - 7 - 11Sus2 + major 7th
About Major 7th sus2
A major seventh sus2 chord replaces the third of a major seventh with the second — in C that is C, D, G and B, written Cmaj7sus2. It has no quality of its own and no tension either: four notes, all consonant with each other, which makes it one of the most open sonorities a guitar can produce.
Notes and formula
The formula is 1 – 2 – 5 – 7, or 0 – 2 – 7 – 11 in semitones. The third is gone, the second stands in its place, and the seventh is major.
Nothing inside the chord is closer than a whole tone except the seventh against the octave above, and that pairing is the same shimmer a plain major seventh has. There is no tritone and no quality, so the chord neither pulls nor commits.
The chord it shares its notes with
Read from G, the notes are G–B–C–D: a G major triad with a fourth added, written Gadd11. So Cmaj7sus2 is that chord over a C bass, which is exactly how it sounds — a bright triad floating above a foreign root.
This identity is worth knowing because it explains the chord's character better than its own symbol does. Nothing about it behaves like a seventh chord.
How to play it
On guitar the shape is x–3–0–0–0–x, sounding C–D–G–B. Three open strings and one finger, which is why the chord turns up constantly in acoustic writing without ever being named.
On piano it is C–D–G–B, and unlike most seventh chords it needs no spreading: the second sits a whole tone from the root, so close voicing stays clear.
Where you hear it
In fingerstyle guitar and in ambient writing, wherever a chord has to ring for a long time without stating whether the passage is major or minor.
It is also a common accident: a guitarist holding a Cmaj7 shape and lifting one finger produces it, and a great many recorded parts contain the chord without the player having thought of it as one.
Against the other suspended sevenths
C7sus4 leans and wants to resolve. Cmaj7sus4 contains a tritone between its fourth and its seventh and is tenser than either. Cmaj7sus2 has neither a lean nor a tritone and is the calmest of the family.
The difference is audible immediately: this is the suspension that can end a piece.
Scales that contain it
Ionian, Lydian and Dorian all fit, since the chord asks only for a natural second, a perfect fifth and a major seventh. Nothing in it decides between major and minor, so a melody can.
Only Mixolydian and the minor modes are excluded, and only because of the seventh — the chord's second and fifth agree with almost everything.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in a Cmaj7sus2 chord?
C, D, G and B. On guitar it is x–3–0–0–0–x — one fretted note and three open strings.
Is it major or minor?
Neither. The third decides quality and this chord has none, which is why it can sit over either a major or a minor passage.
How is it different from Cadd9?
Cadd9 keeps the third and has no seventh. Cmaj7sus2 drops the third and adds the seventh, so it is open where add9 is bright.