On the piano, the E7sus4 chord is the 7th suspended 4th chord built from E, A, B, D. On piano it is played from the keys E, A, B, D, root position first, then in inversions. Keep this page open while you practise: it lists the notes, every practical voicing, the mistakes that make it sound wrong and the progressions where it does its best work.
What notes are in the E7sus4 chord?
The E7sus4 chord is a 7th suspended 4th chord, and its notes are fixed: E, A, B, D. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root E, so you can see the structure of E7sus4 at a glance. On the piano, play the keys E, A, B, D slowly and listen for each note of E7sus4 in turn.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| E | Root |
| A | 4 |
| B | 5 |
| D | b7 |
The root is E, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in E7sus4 are 4, 5, b7. Once you know the intervals, you can build E7sus4 from any root by counting the same semitone steps, which is how the chord works in every key. On the piano, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
E7sus4 sounds ringing and unresolved, the sound of a dominant chord holding its breath. The colour is strongest when all the notes ring clearly. A muted chord tone, especially the 3rd or the 7th where the chord has one, flattens the character of E7sus4 noticeably. On the piano, play the keys E, A, B, D slowly and listen for each note of E7sus4 in turn.
Comparing E7sus4 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, 7sus4 against sus4: E7sus4 adds the flattened 7th D to the sus4 triad. The 7th makes it a dominant chord; the plain sus4 is neither major nor minor. Practise the two chords back to back and listen to the one note that changes — that single note is the difference between the two chords. On the piano, E7sus4 is the keys E, A, B, D, and the inversions above move the same notes around.
How to play E7sus4 on piano
On the piano, E7sus4 is played from the keys E, A, B, D. In root position the lowest note is E, the root, with the other notes stacked above it in the order E, A, B, D. Play it with the right hand first, then with the left hand an octave lower, so both hands know the shape of E7sus4 before you try it in a progression.
First inversion of E7sus4 puts A in the bass, with the notes in the order A, B, D, E. The chord is still E7sus4 — the notes have not changed, only their order — but the bass note changes how it connects to the chord before and after it. Use this inversion when the bass line wants to step to A rather than jump to E, and practise moving from root position to this inversion without lifting your hand off the keys more than you must.
Second inversion of E7sus4 puts B in the bass, with the notes in the order B, D, E, A. The chord is still E7sus4 — the notes have not changed, only their order — but the bass note changes how it connects to the chord before and after it. Use this inversion when the bass line wants to step to B rather than jump to E, and practise moving from root position to this inversion without lifting your hand off the keys more than you must.
Third inversion of E7sus4 puts D in the bass, with the notes in the order D, E, A, B. The chord is still E7sus4 — the notes have not changed, only their order — but the bass note changes how it connects to the chord before and after it. Use this inversion when the bass line wants to step to D rather than jump to E, and practise moving from root position to this inversion without lifting your hand off the keys more than you must.
For fingering, a good starting point for E7sus4 in root position in the right hand is thumb on E, then one finger per note in order, with the little finger on the top note D. For the left hand, mirror it: little finger on the low E and thumb on the top note. When a note is a black key — none of the notes in this chord are black keys — let your longer fingers take it, since they reach the black keys more easily. Practise E7sus4 in root position and first inversion, hands separately, then together, at a slow tempo, and use the Piano Chord Finder to check the voicing on the keyboard.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make E7sus4 sound wrong on the piano, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Forgetting the 7th. Without D this is just a sus4 triad. The 7th is what makes it a dominant chord. On the piano, the root-position keys E, A, B, D show E7sus4 most clearly.
Holding it too long. A suspended chord that never resolves sounds stuck. Use it as a delay, not a destination. On the piano, E7sus4 is the keys E, A, B, D, and the inversions above move the same notes around.
Playing every inversion with the same hand shape. Each inversion of E7sus4 needs its own hand shape, because the notes sit under different fingers. If you force the root-position fingering onto an inversion, the hand cramps and notes get missed. Learn the fingering for each inversion of E7sus4 separately, hands apart, before you join them. On the piano, E7sus4 is the keys E, A, B, D, and the inversions above move the same notes around.
Never resolving the suspension. The 4th A wants to fall to G#. Practise the 7sus4-to-7 move so the resolution is clean. On the piano, the root-position keys E, A, B, D show E7sus4 most clearly.
Where E7sus4 is used
E7sus4 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of E major, the key of A major, the key of B major. a dominant chord that delays its resolution: play the sus4, then let it fall to the dominant 7th. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward A major, the key a perfect fourth above E, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where E7sus4 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the piano, the root-position keys E, A, B, D show E7sus4 most clearly.
Because E7sus4 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain E triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try E7sus4 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the piano, E7sus4 is the keys E, A, B, D, and the inversions above move the same notes around.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in E7sus4 on guitar, E7sus4 on ukulele, E7sus4 on bass, and the scales that fit over it are the E major scale and the E minor pentatonic scale. Learning E7sus4 on the piano and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — E, A, B, D — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising E7sus4
A short worked example makes E7sus4 concrete. Play the four-chord progression A – E – F#m – D in A major, the key E7sus4 most often resolves toward: A – E – F#m – D. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how E7sus4 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on E7sus4 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the piano, E7sus4 is the keys E, A, B, D, and the inversions above move the same notes around.
For a second exercise, play E7sus4 and then the chord a fourth above E, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move E7sus4 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing E7sus4 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: E, A, B, D. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the piano, the root-position keys E, A, B, D show E7sus4 most clearly.
Frequently asked questions
How do you resolve E7sus4?
Let the 4th A fall to the major 3rd G#, turning the chord into the dominant 7th, which then resolves to the tonic. That two-step resolution is the classic 7sus4 move. On the piano, the root-position keys above show where that note sits.
Where is E7sus4 used?
E7sus4 is a V chord in rock, pop and jazz, used to delay a resolution. It appears before dominant 7th chords and at the ends of phrases, where the suspension adds drama. On the piano, the root-position keys above show where that note sits.
How do you play E7sus4 on the piano?
In root position, play the keys E, A, B, D, with E as the lowest note. That is the basic shape of E7sus4 on the piano. The inversions above put a different note in the bass, and the Chord Inverter shows every inversion of E7sus4 on the keyboard.
What is the first inversion of E7sus4?
The first inversion of E7sus4 puts A in the bass, with the notes in the order A, B, D, E. The chord is still E7sus4 — only the bass note has changed — and it is the inversion to use when the bass line steps to A.
Which fingers do you use for E7sus4 on piano?
In the right hand, start with the thumb on E and one finger per note in order, ending with the little finger on D. In the left hand, mirror it with the little finger on the low E. Longer fingers take the black keys, so check which notes of E7sus4 are black keys before you settle on a fingering.