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The Esus2 chord

Think of the Esus2 as a quartal hover above the root. The chord is built from E - F# - B, a textbook suspended second. It does its strongest work in indie rock, dream pop and modern worship, where it tends to leave the harmony open under a sung melody. The Esus2 stays useful for years. Lift the third out of E and you get Esus2. U2's Edge built a career on it. Voicings on both instruments, theory in plain language, progressions in multiple keys and a handful of real song references are all laid out below.

Hear the Esus2 in the chord builder →

Voicings for Esus2

Common ways to grip the Esus2 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Esus2 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Asus2 shape at fr.7

Notes: E - F# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: Esus2 shape at fr.2

Notes: E - F# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: Dsus2 shape at fr.2

Notes: E - F# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: E - F# - B (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: E - F# - B (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: E - F# - B. Root E at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a suspended second.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: F# - B - E. F# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: B - E - F#. B at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

The theory behind Esus2

Esus2 is a suspended second built on E. Its three or four notes (E - F# - B) sit a specific distance apart: root, major second, perfect fifth. That makes it a passing chord in the key of a closely related major key, and the same chord works as the passing chord in a closely related major key. The simplest rule of thumb: the Esus2 wants to resolve to its parent major or minor.

Progressions that use Esus2

Short progressions that put the Esus2 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

Esus2 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

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Songs that feature Esus2

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Pride (In the Name of Love) by U2. Esus2 colour in the song's harmony.
Where the Streets Have No Name by U2. Esus2 inside the famous opening.
With or Without You by U2. Esus2 colour in the song's chord palette.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Esus2 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadE DomE7 m7Em7 NeighbourB NeighbourBm NeighbourB7 NeighbourA NeighbourAm

Keys where Esus2 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Esus2 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Esus2. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.