Unit 19:Add and Sus together

The song "Every Breath You Take" is a cornerstone of rock literature. Not only is the guitar playing by Andy Summers a brilliant example of using chord extensions, but the chord progression is well-written and a variation of the basic I, IV, V we have been playing all year.

The first two chords offer up a world of theory for study, so let's tackle that first. We are in the key of A, so it's no suprise that the first chord is A. Duh. The second chord is F# minor; a chord we haven't learned yet. However, we know something about relative minor from previous songs, so we can build the minor chord off of our major chord. Try this: Play your A chord, and put an F# (2nd fret on the low E string) in the bass with your thumb instead of the open A string (like playing D/F# from Wonderful Tonight) This gives us an A triad with F# in the bass and your ear will hear a minor tonality because we put the 6th scale degree in the bass. Cool right?
-------
---2---C#
---2---A
---2---E
-------
---2---F#

The chord you are actually playing (above)is F# minor7 because you have an E natural in the chord (2nd fret on the D string). If you move this note up a whole step, you are doubling the F# root note, which cleans things up a bit. You should also double the 5th of the chord by playing the C# (4th fret on the A string) to get the full F# minor. It should look like this:

-------
---2---C#
---2---A
---4---F#
---4---C#
---2---F#

This chord shape is similar to the E minor chord you already know. Move the whole voicing down 2 frets (so the 2's showing in the Tab above are open strings, and the 4's are now 2's) and you get the familiar E minor.

Now, onto the alterations used in "Every Breath You Take". Instead of plain 'ol A major (A,C#,E), we use Aadd2 (A,B,C#,E)- see below. Note that the B is the 2nd scale degree in the key of A, and we just added it to the chord, hence the name, Aadd2. Sometimes it's called Aadd9 and usage of these terms is interchangeable. Theoreticaly, it's an add2 when the bass note and the added 2 are a whole step apart, and it should be add9 when there's an octave between the bass note and the added note. I have seen countless examples of published sheet music that use the terms add9 and add2 interchangably. The Hal Leonard version on this tune calls it Aadd2, so we will too.

Here's what it looks like:
-------
---2---C#
---4---B
---2---E
---0---A
-------

The picking pattern that Andy Summers uses on the Aadd2 is this (played twice):
-------------------
----------2--------C#
------4-----4---4--B
----2---2-----2----E
--0----------------A
-------------------

The chord is F#madd2 (Say: F sharp minor add two) and it's similar to the plain F# minor described above, with the added G# on the D string. It's a finger buster! Also played twice:
-------------------
-------------------
----------2--------A
------6-----6---6--G#
----4---4-----4----C#
--2----------------F#

The next two chords are sus2 chords as they do not contain the 3rd. They are the IV chord and the V chord in the key of A making our progression I, Vi, IV, V. Andy Summers plays these chords with the root on the A string on the 5th and 7th frets, but I find this to be too difficult for my acoustic students, and I find it's easier to see the alterations to the chords you already know, so I've become used to playing the chords in the open position here's the Dsus2. Notice it's just like the D chord you already know, but with an open E string instead of the usual 2nd fret on the E string:

-----0-----------
---------3-------
---2--------2---2
-0-----0------0--
-----------------
-----------------

The next chord is Esus2, and I love the way this chord is only one note different from the Aadd2, which it resolves to (just lift your pinky on the B string 5th fret, and you're back to the first chord- Aadd2.

-----2----------
--------5-------
---4--4---4---2-
-2----------2---
----------------
----------------

If you string all of these chords together, you get the whole chord progression for the verses. Your quiz will be on playing the A section, and a written part on spelling sus chords and add2 chords.