Csus4 guitar chord
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About Csus4 — root position
Csus4 is C, F and G — C 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.
Csus4 notes and formula
| C | F | G |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
Suspended — classically it resolves down onto the third.
Also written Csus or C suspended 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Csus4
Csus4 in root position puts C in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.
7 of Csus4’s 8 common shapes do this: x33011, x35563, 8x5568, 88x068, 8-10-10-10-8-8, x-x-10-12-13-13, x-15-15-12-13-x.
Start with x33011 — no barre and 1 open string. 1 of the 8 shapes here sits in open position. 2 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x33011 | open position | C, root position | F | 1 open string |
| x35563 | 3rd fret | C, root position | G | all fretted |
| 8x5568 | 5th fret | C, root position | C | all fretted |
| 88x068 | 6th fret | C, root position | C | barred |
| xx5568 | 5th fret | G, 2nd inversion | C | all fretted |
| 8-10-10-10-8-8 | 8th fret | C, root position | C | barred |
| x-x-10-12-13-13 | 10th fret | C, root position | F | all fretted |
| x-15-15-12-13-x | 12th fret | C, root position | C | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 49 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Csus4
Voice by voice, Csus4 → C. One voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Csus4 | Moves | In C |
|---|---|---|
| C, the root | stays where it is | C, the root |
| F, the fourth | falls a semitone | E, the major third |
| G, the fifth | stays where it is | G, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Csus4 belongs to C major (the I), C minor (the i), D minor (the ♭VII), Eb major (the vi), F major (the V), F minor (the v), G minor (the iv), Ab major (the iii), A minor (the ♭III) and Bb major (the ii).
What to play over Csus4
Every note of Csus4 is in C minor pentatonic, C blues, C major, C mixolydian and C dorian.
Chords near Csus4
Change one note of Csus4 and you have C (the fourth becomes a major third), Cm (the fourth becomes a minor third), Csus2 (the fourth becomes a ninth), Csus2sus4 (add the ninth), C5 (drop the fourth) or C7sus4 (add the flat seventh).
Csus4 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 Csus4’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.