Dsus4 chord

[Kevin E. Ramsey]

    Howard, I have read this, and more than once have thought that this is
just a shortened version of the "Harvey Chord". Jim Harvey's suggestion for
fast tuning in the fifth and sixth octaves. He plays the 1-4-5-octave chord,
and tries to make the sounds even out, or blend. What this chord is is the
4-5-octave part, or a shortened version.
    For those of you not following me, it would be like a D4-G4-A4-D5 chord.
    You're right, though, about a fourth needing more of a beat than a
fifth. Depends on where it is on the scale, and how much stretch you want,
etc.
    You can read about this in the Tuning Exam Source Book, if you need more
info.


----- Original Message -----
From: "Howard S. Rosen" <hsrosen@earthlink.net>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 5:52 PM
Subject: Dsus4 chord


> Hi Phil,
>
> I must admit that I am totally confused as to what I must listen for when
> playing D4-G4-A4 simultaneously. The Major 2nd is so strong and so fast
> beating that it obscures both the D4-G4 (4th)  and the D4-A4 (5th).
Besides,
> in ET that 4th and 5th should not be beating equally. So... what is the
> point of playing those 3 notes simultaneously?
>
> Your use of the term "Dsus4" is also confusing to me. My understanding is
> that a suspension ( I presume that is what your 'sus' means) is a non
> harmonic tone suspended from something previous, that resolves downward to
a
> harmonic tone of a chord. So... my interpretation of your terminology is
> that the G is suspended and resolves downward to an F# which then is , of
> course,  a D major chord. So what does all this mean?
>
> >>the reason for using a sus chord is to test the compatibility of the 4th
> >>and 5th(D4-G4 and D4-A4) as they are played together.
>
> Why must they be compatible? Is this Dsus4 chord so commonplace that we
need
> to make it sound a certain way?
>
> >>If one is beating slightly faster than the other, it will show up
clearly
> when played in a
> >>sus4 type of chord and you can make a correction based on this test
>
> If one is beating faster than the other, one can easily hear that by
playing
> each interval separately. You don't really need to play all 3 notes
together
> and have that major 2nd obscure the 4th and 5th. Besides, in ET they are
> *supposed* to be different. As a matter of fact if you really want to put
a
> hefty stretch to make the 5th and 6th octaves have really great triple
> octaves, then the 4ths will be even faster than usual and the 5ths will be
> slower than usual. Consequently, playing D4-G4 alone will be *noticeably*
> faster than D4-A4 alone. You would not need your Dsus4 chord to discern
> this.
>
> I read your response to Ric several times as this topic is of great
interest
> to me. I'm trying hard to follow your explanation but I am at a loss. If
you
> have the patience, please try to explain the following once more:
>
> What must I listen for when playing D4-G4-A4 simultaneously? Why?
>
> Thanks Phil!
> BTW - I'm still behind in reading the archives so please duplicate your
> pianotech answer to me personally.
>
>
> Howard S. Rosen, RPT
> 7262 Angel Falls Ct.
> Boynton Beach, FL  33437
>
> 561-737-2057
> hsrosen@earthlink.net