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The Dsus4 chord

Think of the Dsus4 as the classic delayed cadence. The chord is built from D - G - A, a textbook suspended fourth. It does its strongest work in classic rock, gospel and praise music, where it tends to set up a strong cadence. The Dsus4 rewards exploration. The chord behind Pinball Wizard's opening, and the secret to a thousand jangle-pop intros. Voicings on both instruments, theory in plain language, progressions in multiple keys and a handful of real song references are all laid out below.

Hear the Dsus4 in the chord builder →

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 voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

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

Spell out the Dsus4 and you get D - G - A. The intervals from the root are root, perfect fourth, perfect fifth, which is the recipe for a suspended fourth. In a closely related major key the chord plays the role of passing chord; in a closely related major key it shows up as passing chord. Its preferred next move is resolve down a step to its parent major, which is what makes it useful 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.

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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

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.