Bsus4 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
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- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Bsus4 — open string voicings
Bsus4 is B, E and F# — B 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.
Bsus4 notes and formula
| B | E | F# |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
Suspended — classically it resolves down onto the third.
Also written Bsus or B suspended 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bsus4
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.
Bsus4 has 2 of them, on the top four strings and strings 6-4-3-2, all of them at the 4th fret — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass and F# in the bass. The one to learn first is the F# shape at the 4th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx4457 — no barre and low, at the 4th fret. None of the shapes for Bsus4 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 1 of the 6 needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x24452 | 2nd fret | B, root position | F# | all fretted |
| 7x4457 | 4th fret | B, root position | B | all fretted |
| xx4457 | 4th fret | F#, 2nd inversion | B | all fretted |
| 799977 | 7th fret | B, root position | B | barred |
| x-x-9-11-12-12 | 9th fret | B, root position | E | all fretted |
| x-14-14-11-12-x | 11th fret | B, root position | B | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 47 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Bsus4
Voice by voice, Bsus4 → B. One voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Bsus4 | Moves | In B |
|---|---|---|
| B, the root | stays where it is | B, the root |
| E, the fourth | falls a semitone | D#, the major third |
| F#, the fifth | stays where it is | F#, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Bsus4 belongs to C# minor (the ♭VII), D major (the vi), E major (the V), E minor (the v), F# minor (the iv), G major (the iii), Ab minor (the ♭III), A major (the ii), B major (the I) and B minor (the i).
What to play over Bsus4
Every note of Bsus4 is in B minor pentatonic, B blues, B major, B mixolydian and B dorian.
Chords near Bsus4
Change one note of Bsus4 and you have B (the fourth becomes a major third), Bm (the fourth becomes a minor third), Bsus2 (the fourth becomes a ninth), Bsus2sus4 (add the ninth), B5 (drop the fourth) or B7sus4 (add the flat seventh).
Bsus4 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 Bsus4’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.