Dominant seventh suspended fourth chord

A dominant seventh suspended fourth chord is composed using a root/1^st, perfect 4^th, perfect 5^th and a minor 7^th (or R/1-4-5-♭7) intervals played simultaneously. Generally written as C^7sus4 or C7sus4, it is good practice to simply use an uppercase C followed by a super scripted ^7sus4 to represent it in writing (ie: C^7sus4).

The dominant seventh suspended fourth chord is enharmonic to a minor seventh suspended fourth chord as there is no 3^rd degree present in either, and both have a minor 7^th interval. Like the suspended fourth chord, its quality (ie: minor, dominant) is implied by its resolution (if any) however in this instance, resolution is either minor or dominant, not major (this is due to the minor 7^th being present in both). As an example, if you were to play a D^7sus4 followed by a D⁷, the implied quality would be dominant because the perfect 4^th (suspended 4^th) is resolving to a major 3^rd one half step lower, while the minor 7^th remains. Alternatively, if you were to play the same D^7sus4 chord but this time follow it with a Dmi⁷, its implied quality would be minor because the perfect 4^th is resolving to a minor 3^rd one whole step lower, and again the minor 7^th remains.

It is not necessary to resolve the dominant seventh suspended fourth or the minor seventh suspended fourth chords, it is merely a tonal tool we can use if required.

Dominant seventh suspended fourth chord profile

Chord shapes/voicings

• Dominant seventh suspended fourth chord shapes
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Audio sample(s)