F#sus4 guitar chord
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About F#sus4 — 2nd inversion
F#sus4 is F#, B 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.
F#sus4 notes and formula
| F# | B | C# |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 5 |
Suspended — classically it resolves down onto the third.
Also written F#sus or F# suspended 4th. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play F#sus4
F#sus4 in 2nd inversion puts C# in the bass instead of F#, 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 F#sus4’s 6 common shapes does this: x-x-11-11-12-14.
Start with xx4677 — no barre and low, at the 4th fret. None of the shapes for F#sus4 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 1 of the 6 needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 244422 | 2nd fret | F#, root position | F# | barred |
| xx4677 | 4th fret | F#, root position | B | all fretted |
| x9967x | 6th fret | F#, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x-9-11-11-12-9 | 9th fret | F#, root position | C# | all fretted |
| 14-x-11-11-12-14 | 11th fret | F#, root position | F# | all fretted |
| x-x-11-11-12-14 | 11th fret | C#, 2nd inversion | F# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 46 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use F#sus4
Voice by voice, F#sus4 → F#. One voice moves by a semitone, and 2 notes are common to both chords.
| In F#sus4 | Moves | In F# |
|---|---|---|
| F#, the root | stays where it is | F#, the root |
| B, 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 F#sus4 belongs to C# minor (the iv), D major (the iii), Eb minor (the ♭III), E major (the ii), F# major (the I), F# minor (the i), Ab minor (the ♭VII), A major (the vi), B major (the V) and B minor (the v).
What to play over F#sus4
Every note of F#sus4 is in F# minor pentatonic, F# blues, F# major, F# mixolydian and F# dorian.
Chords near F#sus4
Change one note of F#sus4 and you have F# (the fourth becomes a major third), F#m (the fourth becomes a minor third), F#sus2 (the fourth becomes a ninth), F#sus2sus4 (add the ninth), F#5 (drop the fourth) or F#7sus4 (add the flat seventh).
F#sus4 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 F#sus4’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.