C#7sus4

C#7sus4 is C#, F#, G# and B, a dominant seventh suspended fourth. The shape this page opens on is written x44422, lowest string first.

Also written C#7sus or C# dominant 7 sus 4. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for C#7sus4 on the guitar, and 26 derived voicings in 3 families.

In which keys. Every note of C#7sus4 belongs to C# minor (the i), Eb minor (the ♭VII), E major (the vi), F# major (the V), F# minor (the v), Ab minor (the iv), A major (the iii) and B major (the ii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x44422, x46474, xxx677, xx6677, 9-11-9-11-9-9, x-x-11-13-12-14.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. C#7sus4 has x444xx, 999xxx, x4x47x, 9-x-9-11-x-x, 9x44xx.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. C#7sus4 has xx4424, 4444xx, xx6677, x-x-9-11-9-9, 9-11-9-11-x-x, x-11-11-11-12-x, x2412x, x4647x.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. C#7sus4 has x2x122, 4x442x, x4x474, x9x697, 7x667x, x-11-x-11-12-9, 9-x-9-11-9-x, 14-x-11-13-12-x.

Tensions. A shell of C#7sus4, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (D#) and the 13 (A#).

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.