Explore the D sus4 Chord: Play and Understand this Suspended Sound

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Open strings make the Dsus4 chord, the D suspended fourth, comfortable to play: its notes are D, G and A, a root, a perfect fourth and a perfect fifth. Two of the four shapes on this page use open strings, and the others are barre voicings, between frets 2 and 12.

Hear it with the chord player at the top, where each shape can be strummed and picked as an arpeggio. The G is the suspended note, and sliding it down to F# gives D major. The D Mixolydian scale holds all three chord tones.

D suspended 4th guitar chord is also written as Dsus4, Dsus or D4.

Notes in the D sus4 chord:

D G A

How the Suspended Fourth chord is built:

Formula: 1 4 5

D Sus4 Guitar Chord Diagrams

Position 1 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 2 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 5 of the A and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 7 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 8 of the B string

Position 3 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the low E, A, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the D string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 12 of the G string

Position 4 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Find more shapes in our all guitar chords online library. If you prefer a printable pdf, download the Free Guitar Chords Chart Pdf

Play This Chord With Other Roots

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Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher

FAQ

What notes does Dsus4 contain?

Dsus4 contains D, G and A. That is a root, a perfect fourth and a perfect fifth. The G sits a half step from the F# of D major.

How many ways can Dsus4 be played?

Dsus4 has 4 voicings, from fret 2 up to fret 12. Two of them use open strings, and two use a barre.

Does Dsus4 share its notes with Gsus2?

Yes. D, G and A are also the notes of Gsus2, the suspended second chord built on G. The root is the only difference.

Which scale works over D suspended fourth?

The D Mixolydian Scale (D, E, F#, G, A, B, C) contains D, G and A. The chord uses its 1st, 4th and 5th degrees.