Lesson 32: Suspended-4th Chords
This lesson teaches suspended-4th chords, a popular "special
effect" chord alteration used in many songs.
Before taking this lesson, you should know:
The
suspended 4th is an
alteration of a "normal" chord. Its
symbol is
"sus4" (or sometimes just
"sus"), added to the
end of a chord symbol. For example:
| Csus4 | "C sus four" |
| B♭7sus | "B-flat seven sus" |
How to play it: The "sus4" symbol means
"play 4 instead of 3".
You know from earlier lessons that the notes in a "normal" chord are:
- root
- 3rd
- 5th
- 7th (for 7th chords)
The notes in a
sus4 chord are, instead:
- root
- 4th
- 5th
- 7th (for 7th chords)
In theory, you can alter any type of chord with a "sus4"; but in real songs,
the only two chord types you'll usually see with a "sus4" added are the
major triad and the
dominant 7th. Here are reference tables for
the notes in these chords:
| Sus4 Triads |
| Chord Symbol |
Root |
4th |
5th |
| A♭sus4 |
A♭ | D♭ | E♭ |
| Asus4 |
A | D | E |
| B♭sus4 |
B♭ | E♭ | F |
| Bsus4 |
B | E | F♯ |
| Csus4 |
C | F | G |
| C♯sus4 |
C♯ | F♯ | G♯ |
| D♭sus4 |
D♭ | G♭ | A♭ |
| Dsus4 |
D | G | A |
| E♭sus4 |
E♭ | A♭ | B♭ |
| Esus4 |
E | A | B |
| Fsus4 |
F | B♭ | C |
| F♯sus4 |
F♯ | B | C♯ |
| G♭sus4 |
G♭ | C♭ | D♭ |
| Gsus4 |
G | C | D |
| Dominant-7th Sus4 Chords |
| Chord Symbol |
Root |
4th |
5th |
7th |
| A♭7sus4 |
A♭ | D♭ | E♭ | G♭ |
| A7sus4 |
A | D | E | G |
| B♭7sus4 |
B♭ | E♭ | F | A♭ |
| B7sus4 |
B | E | F♯ | A |
| C7sus4 |
C | F | G | B♭ |
| C♯7sus4 |
C♯ | F♯ | G♯ | B |
| D♭7sus4 |
D♭ | G♭ | A♭ | C♭ |
| D7sus4 |
D | G | A | C |
| E♭7sus4 |
E♭ | A♭ | B♭ | D♭ |
| E7sus4 |
E | A | B | D |
| F7sus4 |
F | B♭ | C | E♭ |
| F♯7sus4 |
F♯ | B | C♯ | E |
| G♭7sus4 |
G♭ | C♭ | D♭ | F♭ |
| G7sus4 |
G | C | D | F |
How Sus4 Chords are Used
You
can use a sus4 chord anywhere you like. However, most of the sus4
chords you'll find in popular songs occur in one of these patterns:
- Suspension and resolution
- V chord with tonic melody
Suspension and resolution
In this pattern, the sus4 chord is
followed by the
"normal" version
of the same chord. The
4th in the sus4 chord is called the
suspension and feels "unresolved"; the
3rd in the following
"regular" chord is called the "resolution" and feels "finished". For example:
Csus4 →
C
(F note in
Csus4 chord resolves to E note in
C chord)
B♭7sus4 →
B♭7
(E♭ note in
B♭7sus4 chord resolves to D note in
B♭7 chord)
This suspension-resolution pattern was popular in classical music and is still
common in modern popular music. It is usually used on the
V chord or
the
I chord.
V chord with tonic melody
In this pattern, the
Vsus4 ("five sus-four") chord is used instead of
the regular
V chord simply because it
sounds better with the
melody. Let's walk through an
example in the key of C:
-
Say we have a "climax measure" in the song, where we use the V chord
(the V chord is commonly used for climax measures).
-
Our song is in the key of C, so the V chord is the G major
triad, whose notes are G, B, and D. So, the
melody notes which will sound good with this G chord are the
notes G, B, and D.
-
Now, say the composer wants the melody to strongly emphasize the tonic
note (that's the note C here, because our example is in the
key of C), by using the note C in the melody, even during the
V chord. This is a common effect in pop/rock melodies.
-
But, the C melody note will clash with the B note in
the G chord.
-
This pattern avoids the clash by using a Gsus4 chord
(Vsus4) instead of a regular G major triad. The Gsus4 chord
contains a C note instead of a B note, so it sounds good with
the C melody note.
Exercises
You can add these activities to your writing exercises (from
Lesson 2: Practicing Songwriting):
-
Practice playing the sus4 chords. Use the charts above to find the
notes if you like.
-
Practice writing short musical phrases (chords and melody) using the
above two patterns: "suspension and resolution" and "V chord with tonic
melody". You may already have musical phrases you've written which you can
modify to use these patterns.
Next:
