Eb Suspended 4th (Ebsus4)

Also written as D# Suspended 4th (D# and Eb are the same key).

Download MIDI
1+4+5
D#1G#3A#5
4 4

Notes in Eb Suspended 4th

D# (root)G#A#

Inversions

Same notes as Eb Suspended 4th, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.

Root position

D# in the bass

D#1G#3A#5

1st inversion

G# in the bass (Ebsus4/G#)

G#1A#2D#5

2nd inversion

A# in the bass (Ebsus4/A#)

A#1D#3G#5

Play D#, G# and A# together and you get Eb Suspended 4th.

The other suspension raises the missing third up to a perfect fourth, which sits a half step above where the third would normally be. That closeness creates real tension, and it's why a sus4 chord so often falls straight back down into the plain major or minor triad on the same root a beat later.

Difficulty: Beginner. Category: Triads. Click any highlighted key on the diagram above, or tab to it and press Enter, to hear that single note. Inversions mark the bass note with a contrasting outline.