Dsus4 chord

[Howard S. Rosen]

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