What notes are in the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord?

The A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · Gb · Bb: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 4P, 5P, 7m, 9M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Ab, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord?

Measured from Ab, the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord stacks the intervals 1P, 4P, 5P, 7m, 9M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

How do I play the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord?

On guitar the most common A Suspended fourth flat ninth shape is 411122, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Bb4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

A Suspended Fourth Flat Ninth Chord (Abb9sus)

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Bb4
Open (drop 2)	Gb3 · Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · Bb4
Shell	Ab3 · Db4 · Gb4
Rootless	Db3 · Gb3 · Bb3

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

A Suspended fourth flat ninth (Ab9sus) contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · Gb · Bb, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords · extensions

Inversions

An inversion of A Suspended fourth flat ninth puts a chord tone other than Ab in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales A Suspended fourth flat ninth belongs to.

In which keys

A Suspended fourth flat ninth is diatonic to 6 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

B majorVIb9susTonic
G# minorIb9susTonic
F# majorIIb9susSubdominant
D# minorIVb9susSubdominant
Db majorVb9susDominant
Bb minorVIIb9susSubdominant

Extensions beyond the seventh count when every note sits in the key.

Scales that contain it

A Suspended fourth flat ninth fits inside these scales, each built on Ab.

Ab MinorA · B · C · D · E · F · G
Ab DorianA · B · C · D · E · F# · G
Ab MixolydianA · B · C# · D · E · F# · G
Ab PiongioA · B · D · E · F# · G
Ab Mixolydian b6A · B · C# · D · E · F · G
Ab BebopA · B · C# · D · E · F# · G · G#
Ab Bebop MinorA · B · C · C# · D · E · F# · G
Ab Minor BebopA · B · C · D · E · F · G · G#

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with A Suspended fourth flat ninth: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

Ab7sus4Ab · Db · Eb · Gb
Absus24Ab · Bb · Db · Eb
Absus4Ab · Db · Eb
Absus2Ab · Bb · Eb
Ab5Ab · Eb

Richer

Abm11Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb · Bb · Db
Ab13sus4Ab · Db · Eb · Gb · Bb · F

Suspended fourth flat ninth on every root

C#b9sus Db9sus D#b9sus Eb9sus F#b9sus Gb9sus G#b9sus A#b9sus Bb9sus

Open it in a tool

Understanding the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord

Names and symbols

Abb9sus is the chord symbol for A Suspended fourth flat ninth; it is also written Abphryg, Ab7b9sus, Ab7b9sus4, Ab9sus4, Ab9sus.

sus on its own means sus4, and 7sus means 7sus4. sus2 is sometimes written add9(no3), which names the same notes from another angle.

Common questions

What notes are in the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord?: The A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · Gb · Bb: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 4P, 5P, 7m, 9M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Ab, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord?: Measured from Ab, the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord stacks the intervals 1P, 4P, 5P, 7m, 9M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.
How do I play the A Suspended fourth flat ninth chord?: On guitar the most common A Suspended fourth flat ninth shape is 411122, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · Gb4 · Bb4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.