Fsus4 guitar chord
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About Fsus4 — root position
Fsus4 is F, Bb and C — F 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.
Fsus4 notes and formula
| F | Bb | C |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
Suspended — classically it resolves down onto the third.
Also written Fsus or F suspended 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Fsus4
Fsus4 in root position puts F in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.
6 of Fsus4’s 7 common shapes do this: 133311, xx3566, x8856x, x-8-10-10-11-8, 13-x-10-10-11-13, 13-15-15-15-13-13.
Start with xx3566 — no barre and low, at the 3rd fret. None of the shapes for Fsus4 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 2 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 133311 | 1st fret | F, root position | F | barred |
| xx3566 | 3rd fret | F, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| x8856x | 5th fret | F, root position | F | all fretted |
| x-8-10-10-11-8 | 8th fret | F, root position | C | all fretted |
| 13-x-10-10-11-13 | 10th fret | F, root position | F | all fretted |
| x-x-10-10-11-13 | 10th fret | C, 2nd inversion | F | all fretted |
| 13-15-15-15-13-13 | 13th fret | F, root position | F | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 48 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Fsus4
Voice by voice, Fsus4 → F. One voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In Fsus4 | Moves | In F |
|---|---|---|
| F, the root | stays where it is | F, the root |
| Bb, the fourth | falls a semitone | A, the major third |
| C, the fifth | stays where it is | C, the fifth |
In which keys. Every note of Fsus4 belongs to C minor (the iv), C# major (the iii), D minor (the ♭III), Eb major (the ii), F major (the I), F minor (the i), G minor (the ♭VII), Ab major (the vi), Bb major (the V) and Bb minor (the v).
What to play over Fsus4
Every note of Fsus4 is in F minor pentatonic, F blues, F major, F mixolydian and F dorian.
Chords near Fsus4
Change one note of Fsus4 and you have F (the fourth becomes a major third), Fm (the fourth becomes a minor third), Fsus2 (the fourth becomes a ninth), Fsus2sus4 (add the ninth), F5 (drop the fourth) or F7sus4 (add the flat seventh).
Fsus4 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 Fsus4’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.