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The Esus2 chord on guitar: E with the third left open

Esus2 is an E chord with no third. The G# of E major, or the G of E minor, is replaced by F#, the second. What is left sounds wide and open, neither happy nor sad. The open shape rings on all six strings, with three of them open, which makes it one of the fullest sounding sus chords on the guitar.

Esus2 chord: notes and shapes at a glance

  • Name: E suspended second
  • Symbol: Esus2
  • Notes: E, F#, B

Each shape below is written from the thickest string to the thinnest: a number is the fret, 0 an open string, x a string you do not play. New to this? See how to read chord diagrams.

Shape Frets, low E to high E Notes, low to high What it is for
Esus2, open 024400 E B F# B B E The standard open Esus2: six strings, F# on the D string in place of the third.
Esus2, four strings xx2452 E B E F# The Dsus2 shape moved up two frets, with F# on top. A small barre with the first finger.
Esus2, seventh fret x79977 E B E F# B The Asus2 barre shape at the seventh fret, root on the fifth string. No open strings.
Esus2, open 0 2 4 4 0 0 · 1 3 4 · · fingers
Esus2, four strings x x 2 4 5 2 · · 1 3 4 1 fingers
Esus2, seventh fret x 7 9 9 7 7 · 1 3 4 1 1 fingers

Read each diagram from the thickest string on the left to the thinnest on the right. A cross means the string is not played, a circle means it rings open.

Esus2 on the neck: every E, F#, B

Standard tuning, frets 0 to 12. The highlighted notes are the notes of Esus2: any shape you build from them, anywhere on the neck, is still Esus2.

Fretboard notes
Swipe the fretboard sideways to see every fret.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
2 - B
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
3 - G
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
4 - D
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
5 - A
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
6 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E

How to play Esus2, step by step

  1. First finger on the fifth string (A) at fret 2: B, the fifth.
  2. Third finger on the fourth string (D) at fret 4: F#, the second.
  3. Fourth finger on the third string (G) at fret 4: B again.
  4. Strum all six strings. The low E, the B string and the high E ring open.

The stretch from fret 2 to fret 4 is what takes getting used to. Keep the thumb low behind the neck so the hand can open, and press the third and fourth fingers on their tips: the open B string, right under the fourth finger, is the one that gets muted.

The F# on the D string is the note that makes the chord. Pick the strings one at a time before you strum: if F# is dull, the chord sounds like an E5 power chord instead of Esus2.

Esus2 next to E, Em and Esus4

Four chords on the same bass note, and only the third changes. Play them in a row, slowly, and listen to the middle of the chord.

Chord Shape Notes What changes
E 022100 E, G#, B Major third, G#
Em 022000 E, G, B Minor third, G
Esus2 024400 E, F#, B Second, F#, below where the third would be
Esus4 022200 E, A, B Fourth, A, above where the third would be

Keep F# and add G# back and you get a different chord again, Eadd9: still major, with the second on top.

Using Esus2 in a progression

Esus2 is a color, not a destination. It works best right next to the chord it decorates. Four loops to try, four beats per chord:

Progression Shapes
Esus2, E 024400, 022100
Esus2, Em 024400, 022000
E, Esus2, A, Asus2 022100, 024400, x02220, x02200
Esus2, Esus4, E, A 024400, 022200, 022100, x02220

Because it has no third, Esus2 sits just as well in a song in E major as in E minor. That makes it a good intro chord: it sets the key without giving the mood away. More patterns are on the chord progressions page.

Esus2 higher up the neck

xx2452 is the Dsus2 shape moved up two frets. The first finger lies across fret 2 from the D string to the high E, the third finger takes the G string at fret 4, and the fourth finger the B string at fret 5.

x79977 is Asus2 moved to the seventh fret: first finger across fret 7, third and fourth fingers on the D and G strings at fret 9. Compared with the barred E at the seventh fret (x79997), only the B string changes: it drops from fret 9 to the barre at fret 7, and G# becomes F#.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Esus2 on guitar?
Play 024400: first finger on the A string at fret 2, third finger on the D string at fret 4, fourth finger on the G string at fret 4. Leave the low E, B and high E strings open and strum all six.
What notes are in Esus2?
Three: E, F# and B. Root, second and fifth. F# takes the place of the third, so there is no G# and no G.
Is Esus2 major or minor?
Neither. Without a third, the chord does not say major or minor. That is exactly why it is useful: it can stand in for E or for Em, and it leaves the decision to what comes next.
What is the difference between Esus2 and Eadd9?
Eadd9 keeps the major third G# and adds F#; Esus2 removes G# and keeps F#. Eadd9 still sounds clearly major. Esus2 sounds open and unresolved.
Which strings do I play on Esus2?
All six in the open shape 024400: the low E is the root, and the three open strings are E, B and E, all notes of the chord. In the four string shape xx2452, skip the two bass strings.
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris who teaches adults. Every shape on this page is written string by string and checked against standard tuning, and the diagrams are drawn from those same fret numbers. The rest of our free guitar tools, including the chord finder, work the same way.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.