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The Dsus4 chord

Built from D - G - A, the Dsus4 is a suspended fourth that sounds a chord that demands to move. It lives at the centre of tension-release moments in pop and rock, and it fits into more keys than most writers expect. The chord behind Pinball Wizard's opening, and the secret to a thousand jangle-pop intros. What follows below: the voicings worth memorising on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, progressions in two or three different keys, and a short list of real records that lean on the chord.

Hear the Dsus4 in the chord builder →

Scale degrees Note names

Voicings for Dsus4

Common ways to grip the Dsus4 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Dsus4 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Asus4 shape at fr.5

Notes: D - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: Esus4 shape at fr.10

Notes: D - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: Dsus4 shape at fr.2

Notes: D - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: D - G - A (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.2

Notes: top-string triad, fr.2

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.5

Notes: top-string triad, fr.5

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.10

Notes: top-string triad, fr.10

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.2

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.2

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.7

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.7

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.10

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.10

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · open

Notes: bass-side triad, open

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.2

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.2

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.7

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.7

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: D - G - A. Root D at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a suspended fourth.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: G - A - D. G at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: A - D - G. A at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

The theory behind Dsus4

The Dsus4 chord (D - G - A) is a suspended fourth. Its intervals are root, perfect fourth, perfect fifth. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to resolve down a step to its parent major, which is why it shows up in classic rock and gospel.

Progressions that use Dsus4

Short progressions that put the Dsus4 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

Dsus4 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature Dsus4

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Pinball Wizard by The Who. Dsus4 in the iconic acoustic opening.
Free Fallin' by Tom Petty. Dsus4 throughout the song's main loop.
Behind Blue Eyes by The Who. Dsus4 colour in the verse.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Dsus4 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadD DomD7 Maj7Dmaj7 m7Dm7 NeighbourA NeighbourAm NeighbourA7 NeighbourG

Keys where Dsus4 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

Related references

Other ways to put the Dsus4 to work across the reference library.

Arpeggiooutline it with arpeggios

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Dsus4 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Dsus4. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.