CHORD REFERENCE

Dsus4

D – G – A1 4 5

The D 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
D1G4A5

Dsus4 is D, G, A — the 1, 4 and 5 above the root D.

Piano
DGA
Guitar

Ways to play it

A-shape barre — 5th fret
5fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eGADBDGAGGADGDDGADAADGAEGAD

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)

Movable shape
GCEA2fr
357912AADGAEGADCDGAGGADG

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only D, G, A plays the chord.

In which keys

Dsus4 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 D chords

Triads

DMajorDmMinorD5Power Chord (5)DdimDiminishedDaugAugmentedDsus2Suspended 2nd

Sixths & sevenths

D6Major 6thDm6Minor 6thD7Dominant 7thDmaj7Major 7thDm7Minor 7thDm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thDdim7Diminished 7thDm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)D7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

D7♭57♭5D7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)D7♭97♭9D7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Dadd9Added 9thD6/96/9D9Dominant 9thDmaj9Major 9thDm9Minor 9thD11Dominant 11thD13Dominant 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.