Gsus4 Chord on Guitar

1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.

Gsus4 is a suspended fourth chord made of 3 notes: G, C, D. 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 G major and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on Gsus4 with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in Gsus4

Note	Degree	Interval from G	Semitones
G	1	root	0
C	4	perfect fourth	5
D	5	perfect fifth	7

Formula: 1 – 4 – 5. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord.

How to play Gsus4

Open positionEasy330013

E-shape barre at fret 3Medium355533

Open positionBeginner33003x

Open positionBeginnerxxx013

Fret 3Beginnerxx553x

Open positionEasy3x001x

Open position (root on the 6th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 6th string, 3rd fret (G, the root).
2nd finger (middle): 5th string, 3rd fret (C, the fourth).
3rd finger (ring): 2nd string, 3rd fret (D, the fifth).
Let the 4th string, 3rd string ring open (D, G).
Strum from the 6th string, and keep the 1st string quiet (touch the muted string lightly with the finger next to it).

Tips

The open position shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 10th fret (x(10)(10)(12)xx): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with Gsus4

Gsus4 belongs to 6 keys: V in C major, IV in D major, I in G major, III in E minor, VII in A minor, VI in B minor. In G major, try I–V–vi–IV: Gsus4 – D – Em – C.