CHORD REFERENCE

Esus4

E – A – B1 4 5

The E 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
E1A4B5

Esus4 is E, A, B — the 1, 4 and 5 above the root E.

Piano
EAB
Guitar

Ways to play it

E-shape (open strings)
A-shape barre — 7th fret
7fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEABEBBEABGABEDEABAABEAEEABE

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
GCEA4fr
357912AABEAEEABECEABGABE

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

In which keys

Esus4 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 E chords

Triads

EMajorEmMinorE5Power Chord (5)EdimDiminishedEaugAugmentedEsus2Suspended 2nd

Sixths & sevenths

E6Major 6thEm6Minor 6thE7Dominant 7thEmaj7Major 7thEm7Minor 7thEm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thEdim7Diminished 7thEm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)E7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

E7♭57♭5E7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)E7♭97♭9E7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Eadd9Added 9thE6/96/9E9Dominant 9thEmaj9Major 9thEm9Minor 9thE11Dominant 11thE13Dominant 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.