Eb7sus4

Eb7sus4 is Eb, Ab, Bb and Db, a dominant seventh suspended fourth. The shape this page opens on is written xx1324, lowest string first.

Also written Eb7sus or Eb 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 Eb7sus4 on the guitar, and 27 derived voicings in 3 families.

In which keys. Every note of Eb7sus4 belongs to C# major (the ii), Eb minor (the i), F minor (the ♭VII), F# major (the vi), Ab major (the V), Ab minor (the v), Bb minor (the iv) and B major (the iii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: xx1324, x66644, x68696, xxx899, xx8899, 11-13-11-13-11-11.

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. Eb7sus4 has x666xx, 11-11-11-x-x-x, x6x69x, 11-x-11-13-x-x, x6x12x, 11-x-6-6-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Eb7sus4 has x1112x, xx6646, 6666xx, xx8899, x-x-11-13-11-11, 11-13-11-13-x-x, x-13-13-13-14-x, xx1324.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Eb7sus4 has 4x132x, x4x344, 6x664x, x6x696, x-11-x-8-11-9, 9x889x, x-13-x-13-14-11, 11-x-11-13-11-x.

Tensions. A shell of Eb7sus4, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (F) and the 13 (C).

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