Dominant 7th sus4
7sus4
0 - 5 - 7 - 10Sus4 + minor 7th
About Dominant 7th sus4
A dominant seventh suspended fourth chord is a four-note chord in which the third of a dominant seventh is replaced by the fourth — in C that is C, F, G and B♭, written C7sus4. It is a dominant with its tension removed: the flattened seventh still says where the music is going, but without a third there is no tritone to force it there.
Notes and formula
The formula is 1 – 4 – 5 – ♭7, or 0 – 5 – 7 – 10 in semitones from the root. A suspended fourth triad with a minor seventh added on top.
Everything the chord does follows from the missing third. E is what would form a tritone with B♭ and pull the harmony to F; with F in its place the chord holds a perfect fourth, a perfect fifth and a minor seventh — three stable intervals and no urgency at all.
How to play it
On guitar the movable form is x3331x, sounding C–F–B♭–C. It is one flat finger plus one, and that ease is part of why the chord became a genre signature rather than a specialist's tool.
On piano the reliable voicing puts C in the bass with F, B♭ and a doubled C above, or leaves the root to the bass player entirely. The fourth wants to be in the upper half of the voicing where it can be heard as itself.
What it does
The standard use is delay. C7sus4 goes to C7, F falls to E, and only then does the chord resolve to F — a two-stage cadence in which the suspension gets a whole bar rather than two beats. Gospel piano is built on this figure, and so is a great deal of soul and seventies pop.
Its second use is to stand alone. Because it does not pull, the chord can carry a verse without ever becoming a dominant in practice, which is how it appears in folk-rock: a bright, open sound with a seventh in it and no jazz implication whatsoever.
The other names for the same sound
Add a ninth and C7sus4 becomes C9sus4, which contains the same notes as C11 and as G minor seventh over a C bass. Chart writers choose between the four symbols by idiom: a jazz chart prefers C9sus4, an arranger writes Gm7/C, and a rock chart writes C7sus4 and leaves the ninth to the player.
None of these describe different chords, and mistaking the notation for a musical distinction is a common source of confusion when reading across styles.
Where it sits in a key
A dominant seventh with a suspended fourth appears on the fifth degree, like any dominant: G7sus4 in the key of C. It is also common on the first degree of a modal piece, where nothing is expected to resolve and the chord's neutrality is the point.
In blues and gospel it turns up on every degree that carries a dominant seventh, which is most of them, and the suspension becomes a rhythmic device rather than a harmonic one — added and released on the beat as part of the groove.
Scales that contain it
Mixolydian fits without alteration and is the standard choice. Because the chord has no third, the scale's own third can be used freely in the melody — a rare licence, and one that makes improvising over the chord easier than over a plain dominant.
Dorian on the fifth degree above the root describes the same notes from the angle of the minor seventh chord actually being fingered, and many players think in those terms instead.
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in a C7sus4 chord?
C, F, G and B♭. The common guitar form is x3331x, with the root on the fifth string.
Does 7sus4 have to resolve to a plain dominant?
No. The classic move is C7sus4 to C7 to F, but the chord stands on its own in gospel, soul and folk-rock, where the absent third is treated as a colour rather than as a suspension waiting to fall.
Is C7sus4 the same as C11?
Nearly. C11 is the same chord with a ninth added, and both are written Gm7/C by arrangers. C7sus4 has four notes, C11 has five, and in a band context the difference is often left to whoever is comping.