Absus4 Chord

Play A flat, D flat and E flat together. The black keys here are A flat, D flat, E flat. The fourth sits one semitone above the major third C. That tiny gap is the clearest way to hear the familiar sus4-to-major move.

For the minor answer, C flat is played on the B key. It is still spelled as a third above A flat.

The move is common, but a sus4 chord does not have to resolve immediately. Sometimes the melody keeps the fourth in place, or the harmony moves somewhere else. The symbol sus4 tells you the three notes, not the duration of a suspension.

Move the lowest note up an octave while retaining all three pitch classes:

Play all three positions as blocks, then press “broken” to hear the order. The shape changes under your fingers while the chord's note names stay fixed. Chord Inversions explains how the bass affects the result.

Replace D flat with C for A flat major. You can also replace it with C flat for A flat minor, though that is a different distance and a different sound. Play Absus4, then each answer while holding A flat and E flat. The A flat Major Chord shows the major triad on the same root.

No. A flatsus2 uses B flat instead of D flat. Both suspended chords omit the third, but their middle notes occupy different scale degrees. Alternate A flat-B flat-E flat and A flat-D flat-E flat at the same volume. Suspended Fourth Chord explains the pattern beyond this root.

Play Absus4 twice, then lower D flat to C on the third beat. Repeat from first inversion. If you can still hear the moving note when it is no longer in the middle of the keyboard shape, you understand the chord rather than just memorizing a finger pattern.