What notes are in the Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord?

The Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · G: 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 Major seventh suspended fourth chord?

Measured from Ab, the Ab Major seventh suspended fourth 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.

How do I play the Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord?

On guitar the most common Ab Major seventh suspended fourth shape is 44102x, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · G4 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.

Ab Major Seventh Suspended Fourth Chord (Abmaj7sus4)

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 · G4
Open (drop 2)	Eb3 · Ab3 · Db4 · G4
Shell	Ab3 · Db4 · G4
Rootless	Db3 · Eb3 · G3

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Ab Major seventh suspended fourth (Abmaj7sus4) contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · G, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords

Inversions

An inversion of Ab Major seventh suspended fourth 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 Major seventh suspended fourth belongs to.

In which keys

Ab Major seventh suspended fourth is diatonic to 3 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

G# minorImaj7sus4Tonic
Ab majorImaj7sus4Tonic
F minorIIImaj7sus4Tonic

Scales that contain it

Ab Major seventh suspended fourth fits inside these scales, each built on Ab.

Ab MajorAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · F · G
Ab Melodic MinorAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · F · G
Ab Harmonic MinorAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · G
Ab Harmonic MajorAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · Fb · G
Ab Ionian PentatonicAb · C · Db · Eb · G
Ab Minor HexatonicAb · Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · G
Ab Augmented HeptatonicAb · B · C · Db · Eb · E · G
Ab BebopAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · F · Gb · G

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Ab Major seventh suspended fourth: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

Absus4Ab · Db · Eb
Ab5Ab · Eb

Richer

Abmaj9sus4Ab · Db · Eb · G · Bb

Major seventh suspended fourth on every root

Cmaj7sus4 C#maj7sus4 Dbmaj7sus4 Dmaj7sus4 Ebmaj7sus4 Emaj7sus4 Fmaj7sus4 F#maj7sus4 Gbmaj7sus4 Gmaj7sus4 Amaj7sus4 Bbmaj7sus4 Bmaj7sus4

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Understanding the Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord

Names and symbols

Abmaj7sus4 is the chord symbol for Ab Major seventh suspended fourth; it is also written AbM7sus4.

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 Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord?: The Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord contains the notes Ab · Db · Eb · G: 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 Major seventh suspended fourth chord?: Measured from Ab, the Ab Major seventh suspended fourth 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.
How do I play the Ab Major seventh suspended fourth chord?: On guitar the most common Ab Major seventh suspended fourth shape is 44102x, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · Db4 · Eb4 · G4 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.