E♭sus4 chord on guitar

E♭sus4 is E♭, A♭ and B♭. The usual shape is x-x-1-3-4-4. Press Play to hear it, then try it at half speed.

How to play E♭sus4 on guitar

Shape 1, x-x-1-3-4-4, reading from the low E string on the left:

1. E♭: index finger, 1st fret of the D string.
2. B♭: middle finger, 3rd fret of the G string.
3. E♭: ring finger, 4th fret of the B string.
4. A♭: pinky finger, 4th fret of the high E string.
5. Strum from the D string down; the low E and A strings stay silent.

• The pinky takes a note here. Keep it curved and close to the fretboard between chords so it has less distance to travel.
• This one reaches. Let the thumb slide lower on the neck and the stretch gets noticeably easier.
• With four strings sounding, a shorter strum works best: start on the first played string and stop at the high E.

Other ways to play E♭sus4

• 11-13-13-13-11-11: barre shape at the 11th fret, medium. Root on the 6th string: move it up or down and it names a different suspended fourth chord.
• x-6-8-8-9-6: barre shape at the 6th fret, medium. The root is on the A string; it's the Asus4 shape moved up the neck.

Capo shortcuts for E♭sus4

With a capo you can skip the harder shapes: capo on the 1st fret and play the open Dsus4 shape (x-x-0-2-3-3) or capo on the 6th fret and play the open Asus4 shape (x-0-2-2-3-0). Everything above the capo is fingered exactly like the open chord.

Changing from E♭sus4 to the chords around it

The chords E♭sus4 usually goes to, and what changes under your fingers.

• E♭ (resolves down to the third): E♭sus4 (x-x-1-3-4-4) to E♭ (x-x-1-3-4-3): your index and middle fingers stay put, your ring finger lands on the high E string, 3rd fret, the pinky finger slides across to the B string at the same fret. The two chords share E♭ and B♭, which is why the change sounds smooth. E♭ on guitar
• A♭ (IV in E♭ major): E♭sus4 (x-x-1-3-4-4) to A♭ (4-6-6-5-4-4): the index finger lays across the low E to high E strings at the 4th fret, your middle finger lands on the G string, 5th fret, the ring finger goes to the A string, 6th fret. Everything moves: lift the whole hand and place the new shape in one go. The two chords share E♭ and A♭, which is why the change sounds smooth. A♭ on guitar
• B♭ (V in E♭ major): E♭sus4 (x-x-1-3-4-4) to B♭ (x-1-3-3-3-1): the index finger lays across the A to high E strings at the 1st fret, the middle finger slides across to the D string at the same fret, the ring finger goes to the G string, 3rd fret. Everything moves: lift the whole hand and place the new shape in one go. B♭ carries over from one chord to the other. B♭ on guitar

E♭sus4 lifts the third up to the fourth. E♭sus4 holds the fourth where the third should be; drop it a half step or whole step into E♭ or E♭m to resolve. The slow arpeggio button above makes that quality easy to hear.

A short E♭sus4 drill

Arpeggiate x-x-1-3-4-4 from the lowest string: E♭, B♭, E♭, A♭. Then strum it and listen for the same 4 notes together. Finish by moving between x-x-1-3-4-4 and 11-13-13-13-11-11 to learn two positions of the same chord.

D♯sus4 is another spelling of E♭sus4. Same shape, same sound.

Keys and progressions with E♭sus4

E♭sus4 on piano and ukulele

E♭sus4 on piano and ukulele uses the same 3 notes in a different layout. See all three together.

Next to try on guitar

• E♭
• E♭sus2
• E♭7
• E♭m

Other suspended fourth chords

• Csus4
• C♯sus4
• Dsus4
• Esus4
• Fsus4
• F♯sus4
• Gsus4
• A♭sus4
• Asus4
• B♭sus4
• Bsus4

Checked automatically: no shape here plays a note outside E♭sus4. Updated September 2026. Print this chord