Ukulele · suspended fourth
Esus4 Chord on Ukulele
E Suspended 4th is E, A, B — the 1-4-5 pattern of a suspended fourth chord. There are 4 ways to play it on ukulele, ranked below from easiest to hardest.
Good news: Esus4 has an open shape on ukulele, so you can play it without barring anything. Start there and work up the neck later.
Start here — Standard Position
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Easier ways to play it — 4 shapes, easiest first
Same chord in all of them. What changes is how much your hand has to do and where on the neck it sits.
Standard Position Way 1 of 4
Standard Position
Easiest here· intermediate· the standard shape
Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
Alternative Way 2 of 4
Alternative
intermediate
Barre at fret 2 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other suspended fourth chord.
Asus4 Shape (movable) (7th fret) Way 3 of 4
Asus4 Shape (movable) (7th fret)
intermediate
Sits at fret 7 — tighter and brighter than the low shapes, and high enough to keep out of the way of anyone playing the open version underneath.
Gsus4 Shape (movable) (9th fret) Way 4 of 4
Gsus4 Shape (movable) (9th fret)
intermediate
Sits at fret 9 — tighter and brighter than the low shapes, and high enough to keep out of the way of anyone playing the open version underneath.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Standard Position — open position, so several strings ring unfretted.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
Esus4 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on ukulele.
Esus4 on Ukulele — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play Esus4 on ukulele?
“Standard Position” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest Esus4 shape on ukulele. Open shape — open strings ring right through it and there is nothing to barre. If you only learn one, learn this one.
What notes are in the E Suspended 4th chord?
E Suspended 4th is E, A, B — the 1-4-5 interval pattern of a suspended fourth chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
How many ways can you play Esus4 on ukulele?
This page has 4 Esus4 voicings for ukulele, ranked from easiest to hardest: Standard Position, Alternative, Asus4 Shape (movable) (7th fret), Gsus4 Shape (movable) (9th fret). They all sound like Esus4; the differences are how hard they are to hold and how high they sit.
What can I play instead of Esus4?
The nearest stand-ins on ukulele that keep the same root are E5, Esus2, E. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play Esus4 on other instruments?
Yes. Esus4 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind Esus4
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.
Chord Inversions and Slash Chords — Same Notes, Different Attitude
Suspending or adding a tone is a voicing decision, the same kind as an inversion or a slash chord.
5 min read
Chord Progressions Explained
These chords earn their keep inside a progression, leaning on the plain chord that follows.
7 min read
Intervals — The Only Music Theory You Actually Need
Which degree got swapped in, and what that one interval changes.
5 min read