A Sus4 Chord

The a sus4 chord (Asus4) is A, D, E. Play those 3 notes together and you have it.

It sits outside any one key, which is what makes it useful for getting between two of them.

The keyboards below are live. Press the notes and the page grades what you played, so you can check the shape without guessing — root position first, then both inversions, which is where chord playing stops sounding like exercises and starts sounding like music.

Right hand: fingers 1, 3 and 5 on A, D, E, thumb on the A.

Left hand: the same notes, fingers 5, 3 and 1, little finger on the A.

Press all the notes at once rather than rolling them, and listen for whether they arrive together. A chord that is nearly simultaneous is the single most common thing that makes playing sound robotic, and it is fixable in a week.

Try it on the keyboard above. Any octave counts.

D, E, A — the same chord with the third at the bottom.

An inversion is not a new chord. It is the same notes rearranged so your hand does not have to jump. When two chords in a row share notes, playing the second one inverted lets your fingers stay put and the music stops lurching.

Play it on the keyboard above, then play root position again and listen to the difference. The chord is the same; the bottom note changes what it leans towards.

E, A, D — the same chord with the fifth at the bottom.

An inversion is not a new chord. It is the same notes rearranged so your hand does not have to jump. When two chords in a row share notes, playing the second one inverted lets your fingers stay put and the music stops lurching.

Play it on the keyboard above, then play root position again and listen to the difference. The chord is the same; the bottom note changes what it leans towards.

Count in semitones from the root, A:

That pattern is the chord. Move the whole shape up two semitones and you have the same chord on a different root — which is why learning one quality well is worth more than memorising twelve chords separately.

A semitone is the distance to the very next key, black or white. Count them on the keyboard above if the numbers do not mean much yet; they will after a few chords.

Asus4 does not belong to any one major or minor key. Chords like this are used deliberately: they break the gravity of the key for a moment, which is why they appear at the point where a piece is about to move somewhere else.

You will meet it most often as a passing chord between two chords that are in the key. Play it, then resolve it a semitone in either direction and hear how much it wants to go.

Five minutes, in this order:

1. Right hand, root position. A, D, E, played together, four times.
2. Both inversions, in order, up and back down. Say which one you are on.
3. Left hand alone, the same three steps. It is always the weaker hand and always the one people skip.
4. Hands together, left hand playing just the root while the right hand plays the chord.
5. Find it in a piece. A chord you have only met in isolation does not stay learned.

Do not chase speed here. A chord you can place accurately without looking is worth more than four you can nearly place quickly.