Eb7sus4

Eb7sus4 is Eb, Ab, Bb and Db, a dominant seventh suspended fourth. The shape this page opens on is written xx1324, lowest string first.

Note by note. Eb is the root, Ab is the fourth, Bb is the fifth and Db is the flat seventh.

Also written Eb7sus or Eb dominant 7 sus 4. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for Eb7sus4 on the guitar, and 27 derived voicings in 3 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Eb7sus4 and you have Ebsus4 (with one note taken away), Ebsus2sus4 (with one note moved), Ebm7 (with one note moved), Eb7 (with one note moved) or Eb11 (with one note added).

In which keys. Every note of Eb7sus4 belongs to C# major (the ii), 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).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: xx1324, x66644, x68696, xxx899, xx8899, 11-13-11-13-11-11.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Eb7sus4 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 3 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Eb7sus4 has x666xx, 11-11-11-x-x-x, x6x69x, 11-x-11-13-x-x, x6x12x, 11-x-6-6-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Eb7sus4 has x1112x, xx6646, 6666xx, xx8899, x-x-11-13-11-11, 11-13-11-13-x-x, x-13-13-13-14-x, xx1324.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Eb7sus4 has 4x132x, x4x344, 6x664x, x6x696, x-11-x-8-11-9, 9x889x, x-13-x-13-14-11, 11-x-11-13-11-x.

Tensions. A shell of Eb7sus4, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (F) and the 13 (C).

What kind of chord this is. Eb7sus4 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, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.