Ebsus4 guitar chord
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About Ebsus4 — 2nd inversion
Ebsus4 is Eb, Ab and Bb — Eb 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.
Ebsus4 notes and formula
| Eb | Ab | Bb |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
Suspended — classically it resolves down onto the third.
Also written Ebsus or Eb suspended 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Ebsus4
Ebsus4 in 2nd inversion puts Bb in the bass instead of Eb, the 5th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Ebsus4’s 6 common shapes does this: x-x-8-8-9-11.
Start with xx1344 — no barre and down at the nut. None of the shapes for Ebsus4 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 1 of the 6 needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx1344 | 1st fret | Eb, root position | Ab | all fretted |
| x6634x | 3rd fret | Eb, root position | Eb | all fretted |
| x68896 | 6th fret | Eb, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| 11-x-8-8-9-11 | 8th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | all fretted |
| x-x-8-8-9-11 | 8th fret | Bb, 2nd inversion | Eb | all fretted |
| 11-13-13-13-11-11 | 11th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 47 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Ebsus4
Voice by voice, Ebsus4 → Eb. One voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Ebsus4 | Moves | In Eb |
|---|---|---|
| Eb, the root | stays where it is | Eb, the root |
| Ab, the fourth | falls a semitone | G, the major third |
| Bb, the fifth | stays where it is | Bb, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Ebsus4 belongs to C minor (the ♭III), C# major (the ii), Eb major (the I), 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).
What to play over Ebsus4
Every note of Ebsus4 is in Eb minor pentatonic, Eb blues, Eb major, Eb mixolydian and Eb dorian.
Chords near Ebsus4
Change one note of Ebsus4 and you have Eb (the fourth becomes a major third), Ebm (the fourth becomes a minor third), Ebsus2 (the fourth becomes a ninth), Ebsus2sus4 (add the ninth), Eb5 (drop the fourth) or Eb7sus4 (add the flat seventh).
Ebsus4 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 Ebsus4’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.