1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.
E♭sus4 (also written D♯sus4) is a suspended fourth chord made of 3 notes: E♭, A♭, B♭. 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 E♭ major and turns up in 5 other keys.
The library above opens on E♭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 E♭ | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| E♭ | 1 | root | 0 |
| A♭ | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| B♭ | 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(13)(13)(11)xx668xx(11)(11)(13)xxxx663xxxxx896(11)(11)8xxxEvery full shape of E♭sus4 needs a barre or a stretch. The easiest trick is a capo on the 1st fret: then play the open Dsus4 shape (xx0233) and it sounds as E♭sus4. In many songs you can also swap in E♭maj7, E♭sus2, E♭5, which share most of its notes and need no barre. If you want the real thing, the a-shape barre at fret 6 shape is the gentlest start.
E♭sus4 belongs to 6 keys: I in E♭ major, V in A♭ major, IV in B♭ major, III in C minor, VII in F minor, VI in G minor. In E♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: E♭sus4 – B♭ – Cm – A♭.
E♭, A♭, B♭: the root, fourth, fifth.
A-shape barre at fret 6: x66896 (low string first), rated Medium. Or use a capo on the 1st fret and play an open Dsus4 shape.
E♭sus4 has A♭ where E♭sus2 has F. E♭sus4 sounds tense and hanging, as if waiting to resolve; E♭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 6 shape, rated Medium.