C Chord Progressions: Suspended Triads

Adding to yesterday's list of triads, here are some more simple triads in the key of C major, replacing the third note with either a suspended 2nd or suspended 4th:

Isus2. Csus2 (C-D-G)
I. C major (C-E-G)
Isus4. Csus4 (C-F-G)

iisus2. Dsus2 (D-E-A)
ii. Dm (D-F-A)
iisus4. Dsus4 (D-G-A)

iii. Em (E-G-B)
iiisus4. Esus4 (E-A-B)

IVsus2. Fsus2 (F-G-C)
IV. F major (F-A-C)

Vsus2. Gsus2 (G-A-D)
V. G major (G-B-D)
Vsus4. Gsus4 (G-C-D)

visus2. Asus2 (A-B-E)
vi. Am (A-C-E)
visus4. Asus4 (A-D-E)

vii(b5). Bdim (B-D-F)
vii(b5)sus4. B(b5)sus4 (B-E-F)

To spice up your chord progressions, use a suspended 2nd or suspended 4th instead of or in addition to the basic major and minor chords.

C Chord Progressions: Basic Triads

If you remember from previous entries, the C major scale consists of the C, D, E, F, G, A, and B notes. This scale will relate directly to the simple triads (that is, three-note chords made of the root, major/minor third, and diminished/perfect fifth notes) in the key of C major (please refer to this website or elsewhere for more information):

I. C major (made of the C, E, and G notes);
ii. D minor (D, F, and A notes);
iii. E minor (E, G, and B notes);
IV. F major (F, A, and C notes);
V. G major (G, B, and D notes);
vi. A minor (A, C, and E notes); and
vii(b5). B diminished (B, D, and F notes).

As we'll see later, the capitalization or lack of capitalization for the above Roman numerals provides an additional visual aid when substituting chords in different keys.