Asus4 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Asus4 — open string voicings
Asus4 is A, D and E — A with the third replaced by the fourth.
It sounds suspended mid-air. Played before the plain chord it is the oldest tension-and-release move there is.
Asus4 notes and formula
| A | D | E |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
Suspended — classically it resolves down onto the third.
Also written Asus or A suspended 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Asus4
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Asus4 has 5 of them, on strings 5-4-3-2-1, the middle four strings, the bottom four strings, strings 6-4-3-2 and the top four strings, from the 2nd fret up to the 5th — every inversion the chord has: A in the bass, D in the bass and E in the bass. The one to learn first is the A shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with x00x30 — no barre and 3 open strings. 2 of the 8 shapes here sit in open position. 1 of the 8 needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x02230 | open position | A, root position | E | 2 open strings |
| x00x30 | open position | A, root position | E | 3 open strings |
| 5x2235 | 2nd fret | A, root position | A | all fretted |
| xx2235 | 2nd fret | E, 2nd inversion | A | all fretted |
| 577755 | 5th fret | A, root position | A | barred |
| x-x-7-9-10-10 | 7th fret | A, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-12-12-9-10-x | 9th fret | A, root position | A | all fretted |
| x-12-14-14-15-12 | 12th fret | A, root position | E | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 50 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Asus4
Voice by voice, Asus4 → A. One voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Asus4 | Moves | In A |
|---|---|---|
| A, the root | stays where it is | A, the root |
| D, the fourth | falls a semitone | C#, the major third |
| E, the fifth | stays where it is | E, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Asus4 belongs to C major (the vi), D major (the V), D minor (the v), E minor (the iv), F major (the iii), F# minor (the ♭III), G major (the ii), A major (the I), A minor (the i) and B minor (the ♭VII).
What to play over Asus4
Every note of Asus4 is in A minor pentatonic, A blues, A major, A mixolydian and A dorian.
Chords near Asus4
Change one note of Asus4 and you have A (the fourth becomes a major third), Am (the fourth becomes a minor third), Asus2 (the fourth becomes a ninth), Asus2sus4 (add the ninth), A5 (drop the fourth) or A7sus4 (add the flat seventh).
Asus4 is a suspended chord — root and fifth, with a second or fourth where the third would be — or nothing at all. Suspended and power chords on every root.
On Asus4’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.