CHORD REFERENCE

G♭sus4

G♭ – C♭ – D♭1 4 5

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

The G♭ 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
G♭1C♭4D♭5

G♭sus4 is Gb, Cb, Db — the 1, 4 and 5 above the root G♭.

Piano
C♭G♭D♭
Guitar

Ways to play it

E-shape barre — 2nd fret
2fr

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eG♭C♭D♭BC♭D♭G♭C♭GC♭D♭G♭DG♭C♭D♭AC♭D♭G♭EG♭C♭D♭

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
GCEA6fr
357912AC♭D♭G♭EG♭C♭D♭CD♭G♭C♭GC♭D♭G♭

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

In which keys

G♭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 G♭ chords

Triads

G♭MajorG♭mMinorG♭5Power Chord (5)G♭dimDiminishedG♭augAugmentedG♭sus2Suspended 2nd

Sixths & sevenths

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

Altered dominants

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

Extended & added

G♭add9Added 9thG♭6/96/9G♭9Dominant 9thG♭maj9Major 9thG♭m9Minor 9thG♭11Dominant 11thG♭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.