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The Esus4 chord on guitar: tension one finger away from E

Esus4 is an E chord with its third raised to a fourth: G# becomes A. On the guitar that is one finger, the fourth, dropped onto the G string at fret 2. The chord sounds tense and unfinished, and the moment you lift that finger it falls back onto E. That small tug back and forth is one of the oldest moves in rock and folk guitar.

Esus4 chord: notes and shapes at a glance

  • Name: E suspended fourth
  • Symbol: Esus4
  • Notes: E, A, B

Each shape below is written from the thickest string to the thinnest: a number is the fret, 0 an open string, x a string you do not play. New to this? See how to read chord diagrams.

Shape Frets, low E to high E Notes, low to high What it is for
Esus4, two fingers 002200 E A E A B E Two fingers, six strings. The open A string adds a second A, the suspended fourth.
Esus4, open 022200 E B E A B E The standard Esus4: the E chord with the fourth finger on the G string. One finger away from E.
Esus4, four strings xx2455 E B E A The Dsus4 shape moved up two frets, root on the D string. No open strings.
Esus4, two fingers 0 0 2 2 0 0 · · 2 3 · · fingers
Esus4, open 0 2 2 2 0 0 · 2 3 4 · · fingers
Esus4, four strings x x 2 4 5 5 · · 1 2 3 4 fingers

Read each diagram from the thickest string on the left to the thinnest on the right. A cross means the string is not played, a circle means it rings open.

Esus4 on the neck: every E, A, B

Standard tuning, frets 0 to 12. The highlighted notes are the notes of Esus4: any shape you build from them, anywhere on the neck, is still Esus4.

Fretboard notes
Swipe the fretboard sideways to see every fret.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
2 - B
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
3 - G
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
4 - D
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
5 - A
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
6 - E
E
F
F#
G
G#
A
A#
B
C
C#
D
D#
E

How to play Esus4, from the E chord

  1. Fret an open E: second finger on the A string at fret 2, third finger on the D string at fret 2, first finger on the G string at fret 1.
  2. Put the fourth finger on the G string at fret 2. It now sounds A, the fourth; the first finger can stay where it is, it no longer counts.
  3. Strum all six strings. You are playing Esus4.
  4. Lift the fourth finger: the G# under the first finger returns, and you are back on E.

If you only need Esus4 on its own, play it as 022200 with the second, third and fourth fingers side by side. If you are going back and forth with E, keep the first finger down: then only the pinky moves.

Need it faster? 002200 drops the finger on the A string. The open A is the fourth again, so the chord is still Esus4, with a slightly darker bass.

Esus4 next to E, Em and Esus2

Same bass, same fifth, and a different note in the middle each time. That note is on the G string or the D string.

Chord Shape Notes Character
E 022100 E, G#, B Major, settled
Em 022000 E, G, B Minor, darker
Esus2 024400 E, F#, B Open, airy
Esus4 022200 E, A, B Tense, wants to resolve

Of the four, Esus4 is the one that does not want to stay put. Esus2 can ring for a whole bar; Esus4 almost always resolves, usually down to E.

Esus4 in progressions

Esus4 has two jobs. On the I chord of a song in E, it decorates E. In the key of A, where E is the V chord, it delays the pull home by one more step.

Progression Shapes The idea
E, Esus4, E 022100, 022200, 022100 The classic ornament: only the pinky moves
Em, E, Esus4, E 022000, 022100, 022200, 022100 G, G#, A, G#: a line climbing on the G string
E, Esus4, A, E 022100, 022200, x02220, 022100 The sus4 leads straight into the IV chord
A, Esus4, E, B7 x02220, 022200, 022100, x21202 Tension, release, then the V7 of E

Keep the strumming hand steady through all of them: the effect comes from one note moving inside a constant rhythm. The strumming patterns page has rhythms to try them with.

Esus4 without open strings

xx2455 is the Dsus4 shape moved up two frets: first finger on the D string at fret 2, second finger on the G string at fret 4, third and fourth fingers on the B and high E strings at fret 5. Bring the high E down from fret 5 to fret 4 (xx2454) and A becomes G#: a four string E major.

For a fuller sound, x 7 9 9 10 7 is the A shape barre at the seventh fret with the fourth finger on the B string at fret 10: E, B, E, A, B. Release that fourth finger to fret 9 and it becomes E major.

Add the seventh and you get its close cousin, E7sus4, which pulls even harder toward A.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Esus4 on guitar?
Play 022200: second finger on the A string at fret 2, third finger on the D string at fret 2, fourth finger on the G string at fret 2, and strum all six strings. It is an open E chord with the G string raised from fret 1 to fret 2.
What notes are in Esus4?
Three: E, A and B. Root, fourth and fifth. A takes the place of the third, so there is no G#.
Is Esus4 major or minor?
Neither. A sus4 chord has no third. It sounds unfinished, and the ear expects the A to fall back to G#, which turns it into E major.
What is the difference between Esus4 and E7sus4?
The D string. Esus4 plays E there at fret 2; E7sus4 (020200) lets it ring open, and the open D adds the minor seventh. E7sus4 pulls harder toward A.
How do you go from E to Esus4?
Fret the E chord with the second, third and first fingers (022100), then put the fourth finger on the G string at fret 2. Lift it again and you are back on E. The rest of the hand never moves.
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris who teaches adults. Every shape on this page is written string by string and checked against standard tuning, and the diagrams are drawn from those same fret numbers. The rest of our free guitar tools, including the chord finder, work the same way.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.