Chords
Ab Suspended fourth seventh
Ab · Db · Eb · Gb
A dominant seventh with the third replaced by a fourth — tension without commitment.
Also written Ab7sus
Ab Suspended fourth seventh
Ab · Db · Eb · Gb
Voicings on the piano
| Voicing | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Closed, root position | Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · Gb4 | |
| Open (drop 2) | Eb3 · Ab3 · Db4 · Gb4 | |
| Shell | Ab3 · Db4 · Gb4 | |
| Rootless | Db3 · Eb3 · Gb3 |
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Anatomy
Ab Suspended fourth seventh (Ab7sus4) contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · Gb, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.
Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords
Inversions
An inversion of Ab Suspended fourth seventh 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 Ab Suspended fourth seventh belongs to.
In which keys
Ab Suspended fourth seventh is diatonic to 8 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.
Scales that contain it
Ab Suspended fourth seventh fits inside these scales, each built on Ab.
- Ab Minor PentatonicAb · Cb · Db · Eb · Gb
- Ab MinorAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · Gb
- Ab DorianAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · Gb
- Ab MixolydianAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb
- Ab Mixolydian PentatonicAb · C · Db · Eb · Gb
- Ab EgyptianAb · Bb · Db · Eb · Gb
- Ab PiongioAb · Bb · Db · Eb · F · Gb
- Ab Mixolydian b6Ab · Bb · C · Db · Eb · Fb · Gb
Understanding the Ab Suspended fourth seventh chord
Names and symbols
Ab7sus4 is the chord symbol for Ab Suspended fourth seventh; it is also written Ab7sus.
sus on its own means sus4, and 7sus means 7sus4. sus2 is sometimes written add9(no3), which names the same notes from another angle.
Ab Suspended fourth seventh and G# Suspended fourth seventh are the same sound spelled two ways; both have a page here, and each links to the other. G# Suspended fourth seventh
How it is built
On Ab it is Ab · Db · Eb · Gb, stacking 1P · 4P · 5P · 7m. The seventh keeps the dominant character; removing the third removes the tritone, and with it most of the urgency.
How it is used
It is the sound of a dominant that has been asked to wait. Modal jazz uses it as a standing harmony — "So What" and a great deal of what followed sit on sus chords for bars at a time. In pop it is the chord before the chorus arrives.
Learn this properly
Chapter 10: Chords: Triads and SeventhsCommon questions
- What notes are in Ab7sus4?
- Ab7sus4 contains Ab · Db · Eb · Gb. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.
- How is 7sus4 different from a dominant seventh?
- The third is replaced by the fourth, which removes the tritone. The chord still sounds dominant but no longer insists on resolving.
- Where is 7sus4 used?
- As a delayed dominant before a cadence, and as a standing modal harmony in jazz and in gospel.
- What notes are in the Ab Suspended fourth seventh chord?
- The Ab Suspended fourth seventh chord contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · Gb: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 4P, 5P, 7m 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 Ab Suspended fourth seventh chord?
- Measured from Ab, the Ab Suspended fourth seventh chord stacks the intervals 1P, 4P, 5P, 7m. 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.