Asus(4)
Mastering Piano Chord A sus4 on your piano or keyboard
If you’re learning to play the piano, understanding chords is essential. One of the most commonly used variations of the chord A major – or – A minor is the piano chord A sus, which can add a beautiful, unique sound to your music.
In this guide, I’ll break down everything you need to know about playing A sus and similar chords, so you can start creating beautiful music today.
From the chord symbol Asus we get the following information:
- The Asus chord has the note A as root note
- The Asus chord is a 3-note chord (a triad)
- The Asus chord is a suspended chord – play the 4th. note in the scale – instead of the 3rd.
Because Asus is a 3-note chord it also has 3 inversions:
- Root inversion
- 1st. inversion
- 2nd. inversion
Asus chord – Root inversion (basic inversion) looks like this: A – D – E
Asus chord – 1st. inversion (root note at the top of the chord): D – E – A
Asus chord – 2nd. inversion (root note in the middle of the chord): E – A – D
Asus chord – fingering:
Root inversion:
Finger | 1 | 3 | 4 |
Note | A | D | E |
1st. inversion:
Finger | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Note | D | E | A |
2nd. inversion:
Finger | 1 | 2 | 5 |
Note | E | A | D |
Asus chord – Closely related scales and harmonic functions:
The Asus chord can be used to create tension (suspense) in a chord progression. It is played by omitting the 3rd. note in the scale – and instead playing the 4th. note – the suspense note. The Asus chord can resolve to both the A major chord and the A minor chord so it is impossible to say what scale the Asus belongs to.
You can play both of these chord progressions Asus to Am – and – Asus to A major. The Asus chord can also “stand alone” – meaning – you don’t have to resolve it.