CHORD REFERENCE

B♭sus4

B♭ – E♭ – F1 4 5

Also written A♯sus4 — the same pitches spelled the other way.

The B♭ Suspended 4th chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
B♭1E♭4F5

B♭sus4 is Bb, Eb, F — the 1, 4 and 5 above the root B♭.

Piano
FB♭E♭
Guitar

Ways to play it

E-shape barre — 6th fret
6fr
A-shape barre — 1st fret
×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eFB♭E♭BE♭FB♭GB♭E♭FDE♭FB♭AB♭E♭FEFB♭E♭

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

357912AB♭E♭FEFB♭E♭CE♭FB♭GB♭E♭F

Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only Bb, Eb, F plays the chord.

In which keys

B♭sus4 is a colour chord — it is not diatonic to a plain major or minor key, which is what gives it its character. It shows up as a borrowed chord, an altered dominant, or a passing sound.

Other B♭ chords

Triads

B♭MajorB♭mMinorB♭5Power Chord (5)B♭dimDiminishedB♭augAugmentedB♭sus2Suspended 2nd

Sixths & sevenths

B♭6Major 6thB♭m6Minor 6thB♭7Dominant 7thB♭maj7Major 7thB♭m7Minor 7thB♭m(maj7)Minor–Major 7thB♭dim7Diminished 7thB♭m7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)B♭7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

B♭7♭57♭5B♭7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)B♭7♭97♭9B♭7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

B♭add9Added 9thB♭6/96/9B♭9Dominant 9thB♭maj9Major 9thB♭m9Minor 9thB♭11Dominant 11thB♭13Dominant 13th
Suspended 4th on another root
CC♯D♭DE♭D♯EFF♯G♭GA♭G♯AB♭A♯B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.