Dsus2 and Dsus4: hammer-ons and pull-offs in a chord
Strumming D and A while a finger adds and takes away a note on the top string: Dsus4 pulled off to D, Dsus2 hammered on to D, and the same on A. These little moves inside a chord are what make an acoustic part sound like a song rather than a chord chart, from folk to classic rock. They train the fretting hand to move one finger while the others hold the chord down.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 80 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 80 bpm
- Starts at
- 48 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Intermediate
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
Hold the D shape the whole time; only the little finger (Dsus4) or the 2nd finger (Dsus2) moves on the high E.
Hold a D chord. For Dsus4, add the little finger at the high E's 3rd fret, strum, then pull it off so the 2nd finger's note at the 2nd fret sounds: that's D again. For Dsus2, lift the 2nd finger so the high E rings open, strum, then hammer the finger back on.
The A bars do the same on the B string: Asus4 adds the little finger at its 3rd fret and pulls off to the 2nd, and Asus2 leaves the B string open and hammers the 3rd finger on. The last bar, G to Asus4 and A, leads back to D.
The strummed chord keeps ringing while the hammered or pulled note sounds, so let the strum ring and move just the one finger. A pull-off is a small sideways flick that plucks the string as the finger leaves it.
Mistakes to watch for
- Lifting the whole chord to move one finger.
- Hammer-ons too soft to hear over the ringing chord. Hammer from a little height, close behind the fret.
- Pulling straight up instead of slightly sideways, so the note under it barely sounds.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 48
- 52
- 56
- 60
- 64
- 68
- 72
- 76
- 80
That's 16 loops and about 4 minutes before you're playing at 80 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one. Strums are checked for when they land, not for which strings rang.
Questions
How fast should I play Dsus2 and Dsus4 hammer-ons?
The goal is 80 bpm in eighth notes, which is 2.7 strums a second. Start wherever every strum is clean: the player begins at 48 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
What does sus mean in a chord name?
Suspended: the chord's third is replaced by the second (sus2) or the fourth (sus4). Without the third the chord sounds open and unresolved and pulls back to the major chord, which is why sus chords are so often moved in and out of.
Where are these moves used?
All over acoustic rock, folk and pop. A D with a sus4 and a sus2 flicked in and out is one of the most recognisable acoustic sounds, and the same works on A, E and C.
More acoustic exercises
All 20 acoustic exercises · Strumming patterns · Fretboard notes trainer · All 107 exercises