Hi Ogre,

Thank you for showing your appreciation. I'm glad you have enjoyed this discussion of chords. Perhaps I need to clarify why I say I am a beginner. I started taking keyboard lessons about a year and a half ago, so as far as a keyboard player is concerned, I still feel like a beginner. As a musician, however, I began music studies on the trombone at age 7 - 66 years ago. So I am no stranger to music - just to a keyboard.

You mentioned you have the Dick Hyman books. What a coincidence. I have them as well. Dick is a wonderful jazz pianist and so-called jazz harmonies are the harmonies I enjoy the most. I use many of Dick's chord substitutions when they suit my taste for harmony.


Hello Again Bob,

Thank you for showing your appreciation, too. I am wondering where the C2 chord designation came from. I've never come across it in any of the music I have in my library including busker books. Strange. C2 is not mentioned in any of my harmony books either, nor have I run across it in my 66 years of reading and playing music.

You spoke about unusual endings e.g., using the Gsus4 (aka C2) chord as the final chord in a piece of music and when you questioned it, your director said that is the way he wanted it to end. You know, there are rules for harmony, but no rules to govern how you end a song. I think it is nice occasionally to leave the audience hanging with an unusual ending. In that regard, I haven't used that approach in my music - yet - but it is an intriguing thought and you can bet I'll experiment with it. Thanks for making me aware. As Ogre said, it adds interest to the music.

A thought just occurred to me. I wonder if the C2 designation is intended for guitar or ukelele players to tell them to play a C chord in the #2 position on the fretboard. I can't imagine anyone interpreting a C2 to mean a suspended 4th chord. Amazing.

You two take care,

Chuck