In our last six lessons (see Guitar World May through September 2017), I presented a handful of unusual, intriguing four-note arpeggios in the key of A—Aadd2,...
In our last six lessons (see Guitar World May through September 2017), I presented a handful of unusual, intriguing four-note arpeggios in the key of A—Aadd2, Am(add2), Aaddb2, A6b2 and A7#9—and demonstrated some interesting ways to employ them melodically and repurpose two of them harmonically, using Caddb2 (C Db E G) or C6b2 (C Db A C) to get an A7#9 sound (A C# E G B#).
Continuing our exploration of cool and unusual four-note shapes, I now present Asus4b2 (A Bb D E) and some neat things you can do with it on the guitar. Like the Aaddb2 arpeggio (A Bb C# E) that we covered in the August 2017 installment of String Theory[1], Asus4b2 gives you your A root note, flatted second (or ninth), Bb, and perfect fifth, E.
But instead of the bright-sounding major third, C#, we get the suspended fourth, D, which imparts a feeling of suspense (a convenient coincidence, with the term “suspended”), as the arpeggio’s or chord’s basic quality is neither major nor minor, being noncommittal in that regard. This, combined with the eeriness of the b2 (or b9), Bb, yields a rather mysterious, haunting sound that’s great for scaring children and adults alike.
As a chord reference, FIGURE 1 illustrates some finger-friendly Asus4b2 grips on the top four stings, with the open A string included and the first shape additionally shown 12 frets higher. It’s an intriguing chord sound, eh?
FIGURE 2 demonstrates an effective way to convey this same sound melodically, by playing an Asus4b2 arpeggio as a compact, four-note cell (A Bb D E), using two notes per string, with the shape initially played on the bottom two strings then transposed up an octave on the middle two strings, then up another octave