4AbDbAbDbEbAb
Fig. 1 · Absus4 · moderate

guitar chord

A♭sus4

A♭1D♭4E♭5

The third replaced by the fourth, which leans on the third it is standing in for.

Written the other way round it is G♯sus4 — the same twelve keys on a piano, a different piece of notation.

on ukuleleon pianothe scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

4
Fig. 2

446644

moderate · barre

4
Fig. 3

466644

hard · barre

4
Fig. 4

44664x

moderate · barre

Fig. 5

4411xx

hard

4
Fig. 6

xx6644

hard

What is true of it

A♭sus4 is A♭, D♭ and E♭ — 1, 4 and 5 counted from A♭.

These are also the notes of D♭sus2/A♭ and C♯sus2/A♭. Which name is right depends on what is underneath and what came before — the notes alone do not decide.

The easiest of the 5 fingerings below is 446644: 3 fingers, one of them barring the 4th fret, held at the 4th fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

3 of the 5 need a barre.

Where its notes are on the neck

EADGBE123456789101112145451514145451145
Fig. 7 — first 12 frets

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

With a different note underneath

4
first inversion

A♭sus4/D♭

x46644

4
second inversion

A♭sus4/E♭

x6664x

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.

A♭ in other shapes

A♭sus2suspended secondA♭7sus4dominant seventh suspended fourthA♭majorA♭mminorA♭dimdiminished

Csus4C♯sus4D♭sus4Dsus4D♯sus4E♭sus4Esus4Fsus4all 374