Suspended Chords

Let’s look at how to play D flat suspended chords on the piano. We’ll learn how to play both D♭sus2 and D♭sus4 chords, and we’ll learn the pattern for building any other sus2 and sus4 chords.

What Are Suspended Chords?

There are two main types of suspended chords: sus2 and sus4.

Sus2 chords are built with the first, second and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Sus4 chords are built with the first, fourth and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Suspended chords are similar to major chords. We can build major chords using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale. But suspended chords change the middle note. Instead of using the third note of the matching major scale for the middle note of the chord, a sus2 chord uses the second note of the scale, and a sus4 chord uses the fourth note of the scale.

Chord Types Printable

Learn to play 17 types of piano chords using 12 different root notes with this 35-page PDF! Chords are sorted both by their root note and type.

Get the Printable

How to Play a D Flat Suspended 2 Chord

So to play a D flat suspended 2 chord, we’ll play the first, second and fifth notes of the D flat major scale:

D♭ – E♭ – A♭

We can use this pattern to build any other suspended second chord. We’ll use the first, second and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

How to Play a D Flat Suspended 4 Chord

Now let’s look at how to play a D flat suspended 4 chord on the piano. We can build this chord using the first, fourth and fifth notes of the D flat major scale:

D♭ – G♭ – A♭

We can use this pattern to build any other suspended fourth chord. We’ll use the first, fourth and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

If you see a chord labeled D♭sus, without a number after it, it usually indicates a sus4 chord.

Other Chord Types

Some of the other chord types we can learn are:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished
Second
Minor Second
Fifth
Sixth
Minor Sixth
Seventh
Minor Seventh
Major Seventh
Ninth
Minor Ninth
Major Ninth

Conclusion

Now you know how to build D flat suspended chords, and you can use this knowledge to build any other sus2 and sus4 chords!

Suspended chords are really intriguing at the piano. They may sound like they “leave you hanging”, and you may want to resolve them back to their matching major or minor chord (they can be substituted for both), but it’s not necessary. I often leave them just the way they are, because I like them so much.

I hope you enjoy these wonderful chords!