Guitar chord · Open shape · Standard tuning
E suspended 4th guitar chord (Esus4)
Place finger 2 on the 2nd fret of the A, finger 3 on the 2nd fret of the D, finger 4 on the 2nd fret of the G. Strum all six strings.
E – A – B
Loop strum: down, down-up, up-down-up on 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.
Next moves
3 fingers, 6 strings, chart notation 022200. Tap the chord box to hear it strummed, then play it string by string to check every note is ringing cleanly.
How to play Esus4
Finger numbers run 1 for the index to 4 for the little finger. String names are given as players say them — the low E is the thickest string (the 6th) and the high E is the thinnest (the 1st).
- 2nd finger (middle) — 2nd fret, A string
- 3rd finger (ring) — 2nd fret, D string
- 4th finger (little) — 2nd fret, G string
- Play open: low E (6th), B (2nd) and high E (1st) — strum them without fretting anything.
- Strum all six strings. Nothing is muted in this shape, so the chord should ring from the low E right through to the high E.
| String | Fret | Finger | Note it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th — low E | Open | — | E |
| 5th — A | 2nd fret | 2 (middle) | B |
| 4th — D | 2nd fret | 3 (ring) | E |
| 3rd — G | 2nd fret | 4 (little) | A |
| 2nd — B | Open | — | B |
| 1st — high E | Open | — | E |
Notes and intervals in Esus4
Esus4 is built from 3 notes: E, A and B.
- E — the root
- A — the suspended 4th
- B — the perfect 5th
Across the six strings the shape sounds E · B · E · A · B · E from low to high, so some notes are doubled in different octaves — that is what gives an open guitar chord its width compared with the same chord on a keyboard.
What Esus4 is used for
Esus4 is E minor with an A added on the G string — or E major with the G♯ pushed up a semitone. Either way the 3rd is gone and the chord is unresolved. Three fingers line up across the 2nd fret, which makes it the easiest suspension to grab while a strumming pattern is already running.
Common mistakes with Esus4
- Using the index finger on the G string. Adding the little finger to an Em shape instead keeps the index free for the 1st-fret note that returns you to E major.
- Deadening the open B string with a flat little finger.
- Treating it as a chord in its own right. It works as a pause on the way to E, not as a place to stop.
A first strum pattern
Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” — eighth notes (quavers). Strum down, down-up, up-down-up: down on 1, down on 2, up on the “&” of 2, up on the “&” of 3, down on 4, up on the “&” of 4. Keep your hand moving down and up all the time, and only touch the strings on the marked counts.
Start the strum loop above at 60–70 BPM and change chords on beat 1.
E suspended 4th FAQ
How do you play E suspended 4th on guitar?
Place finger 2 on the 2nd fret of the A, finger 3 on the 2nd fret of the D, finger 4 on the 2nd fret of the G. Strum all six strings. In chart notation it is 022200, low E string first.
What notes are in E suspended 4th?
E, A and B: the root, the suspended 4th and the perfect 5th.
What chord comes after E suspended 4th?
Common changes from E suspended 4th: B♭ major and B major. Practice the switch slowly with the strum loop, then speed it up.
Guitar chord data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.