C7sus4

C1F4G5B♭♭7

A dominant seventh with the fourth standing in for the third.

on guitar on piano the scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

x011

open · no 5

Fig. 3

5768

hard

Fig. 4

556x

moderate · barre · no 5

Fig. 5

5563

hard · no 5

Fig. 6

5568

moderate · barre · no 5

What is true of it

C7sus4 is C, F, G and B♭ — 1, 4, 5 and b7 counted from C.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 4, the 5 goes first, in that order.

The easiest of the 5 fingerings below is x011: 2 fingers, held at the 1st fret.

1 of them use open strings, which is what makes a shape quiet to change to.

2 of the 5 need a barre.

It leaves out the 5. 4 strings cannot carry 4 notes, and the 5 is the one this chord can lose without changing what it is.

1 string stays silent.

Where its notes are on the neck

Fig. 7 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are C, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

C7sus4/F

aa8a

second inversion

C7sus4/G

0011

third inversion

C7sus4/B♭

3011

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

C in other shapes

Csus2suspended second Csus4suspended fourth Cmajor Cmminor Cdimdiminished

C♯7sus4 D♭7sus4 D7sus4 D♯7sus4 E♭7sus4 E7sus4 F7sus4 F♯7sus4 all 374