1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.
C♯sus4 (also written D♭sus4) is a suspended fourth chord made of 3 notes: C♯, F♯, G♯. It sounds tense and hanging, as if waiting to resolve, and you hear it in the classic sus4-to-major move at the end of a phrase. It is the I chord of D♭ major and turns up in 5 other keys.
The library above opens on C♯sus4 with 14 shapes up and down the neck. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.
| Note | Degree | Interval from C♯ | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| C♯ | 1 | root | 0 |
| F♯ | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| G♯ | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
Formula: 1 – 4 – 5. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, D♭sus4 is D♭, G♭, A♭: the same sounds under different names.
xx(11)(11)9xx446xx99(11)xxxx441xxxxx674996xxxEvery full shape of C♯sus4 needs a barre or a stretch. The easiest trick is a capo on the 1st fret: then play the open Csus4 shape (x33011) and it sounds as C♯sus4. In many songs you can also swap in C♯maj7, C♯sus2, C♯5, which share most of its notes and need no barre. If you want the real thing, the a-shape barre at fret 4 shape is the gentlest start.
C♯sus4 belongs to 6 keys: I in D♭ major, V in F♯ major, IV in A♭ major, VII in E♭ minor, VI in F minor, III in B♭ minor. In D♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: C♯sus4 – A♭ – B♭m – G♭.
C♯, F♯, G♯: the root, fourth, fifth.
A-shape barre at fret 4: x44674 (low string first), rated Medium. Or use a capo on the 1st fret and play an open Csus4 shape.
C♯sus4 has F♯ where C♯sus2 has D♯. C♯sus4 sounds tense and hanging, as if waiting to resolve; C♯sus2 sounds open and airy, neither major nor minor.
It needs a barre in every shape, so it takes some practice. Start with the a-shape barre at fret 4 shape, rated Medium.