# B Suspended 4th piano chord (Bsus4)

Bsus4 contains B, E and F♯. The third replaced by the fourth. F♯ is a black key; B and E are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/suspended-4th/b/
- Entity: chord:sus4:b
- Notes: B E F♯
- Formula: 1 4 5
- Intervals from root: P1, P4, P5
- Interval stack (semitones): 5 2
- Also written: Bsus4, Bsus4, B suspended 4th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | B | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 4 | E | Perfect fourth | 5 |
| 5 | F♯ | Perfect fifth | 7 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on B, finger 3 on E, finger 5 on F♯. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 1-3-5, left hand 5-3-1. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | B | B3 E4 F♯4 | 5/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| First inversion (Bsus4/E) | E | E4 F♯4 B4 | 6/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| Second inversion (Bsus4/F♯) | F♯ | F♯4 B4 E5 | 6/4 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (5)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | B3 E4 F♯4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | E4 F♯4 B4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | F♯4 B4 E5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Open, fifth on top | B2 F♯3 E4 | 17 st, 234 mm | identical | none |
| Root and third only | B3 E4 | 5 st, 69 mm | subset | omits F♯ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| B7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | adds A | 3 |
| B | 1 3 5 | E becomes D♯ | 2 |
| Bm | 1 ♭3 5 | E becomes D | 2 |
| Bsus2 | 1 2 5 | E becomes C♯ | 2 |
| Bmaj7 | 1 3 5 7 | E becomes D♯, A♯ | 2 |
| B7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | E becomes D♯, A | 2 |
| Bm7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | E becomes D, A | 2 |
| BmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | E becomes D, A♯ | 2 |
| B6 | 1 3 5 6 | E becomes D♯, G♯ | 2 |
| Bm6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | E becomes D, G♯ | 2 |
| Badd9 | 1 3 5 9 | E becomes D♯, C♯ | 2 |
| Bdim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | E, F♯ becomes D, F | 1 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {11, 4, 6}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 5, 7]
- Normal order: [4, 6, 11]
- Prime form: (027)
- Forte number: 3-9
- Interval vector: <010020>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| B3 | 59 | 246.94 Hz |
| E4 | 64 | 329.63 Hz |
| F♯4 | 66 | 369.99 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Bsus4?

Bsus4 contains B, E and F♯. The formula is 1, 4, 5.

### How do you play Bsus4 on piano?

Play B, E and F♯ together. Right hand fingers 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1. F♯ is a black key; B and E are white.

### What are the inversions of Bsus4?

3 positions: root position B E F♯, Bsus4/E, Bsus4/F♯.

### What is the difference between Bsus4 and B7sus4?

Adds A. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Bsus4 for small hands?

The root and third only voicing, B3 E4, spans 5 semitones or about 69 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Bsus4?

From B3 at A440 in 12-TET: 246.94, 329.63, 369.99 Hz.

### What is the set class of Bsus4?

Prime form (027), Forte 3-9, interval vector &lt;010020&gt;.

### How do I transpose Bsus4 to another key?

Keep the 1, 4, 5 formula on the new root. Csus4 is C, F, G; C♯sus4 is C♯, F♯, G♯.

### Is C♭sus4 the same as Bsus4?

Enharmonically yes: the same piano keys and the same sound, spelled differently.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:sus4:b
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12