# C♭ Suspended 4th piano chord (C♭sus4)

C♭sus4 contains C♭, F♭ and G♭. The third replaced by the fourth. G♭ is a black key; C♭ and F♭ are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/suspended-4th/c-flat/
- Entity: chord:sus4:c-flat
- Notes: C♭ F♭ G♭
- Formula: 1 4 5
- Intervals from root: P1, P4, P5
- Interval stack (semitones): 5 2
- Also written: C♭sus4, Cbsus4, C♭ suspended 4th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | C♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 4 | F♭ | Perfect fourth | 5 |
| 5 | G♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on C♭, finger 3 on F♭, finger 5 on G♭. 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 | C♭ | C♭3 F♭4 G♭4 | 5/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| First inversion (C♭sus4/F♭) | F♭ | F♭4 G♭4 C♭4 | 6/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| Second inversion (C♭sus4/G♭) | G♭ | G♭4 C♭4 F♭5 | 6/4 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (5)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | C♭3 F♭4 G♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | F♭4 G♭4 C♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | G♭4 C♭4 F♭5 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Open, fifth on top | C♭2 G♭3 F♭4 | 17 st, 234 mm | identical | none |
| Root and third only | C♭3 F♭4 | 5 st, 69 mm | subset | omits G♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| C♭7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | adds B♭♭ | 3 |
| C♭ | 1 3 5 | F♭ becomes E♭ | 2 |
| C♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | F♭ becomes E♭♭ | 2 |
| C♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | F♭ becomes D♭ | 2 |
| C♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | F♭ becomes E♭, B♭ | 2 |
| C♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | F♭ becomes E♭, B♭♭ | 2 |
| C♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | F♭ becomes E♭♭, B♭♭ | 2 |
| C♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | F♭ becomes E♭♭, B♭ | 2 |
| C♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | F♭ becomes E♭, A♭ | 2 |
| C♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | F♭ becomes E♭♭, A♭ | 2 |
| C♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | F♭ becomes E♭, D♭ | 2 |
| C♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | F♭, G♭ becomes E♭♭, G♭♭ | 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 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C♭3 | 59 | 246.94 Hz |
| F♭4 | 64 | 329.63 Hz |
| G♭4 | 66 | 369.99 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in C♭sus4?

C♭sus4 contains C♭, F♭ and G♭. The formula is 1, 4, 5.

### How do you play C♭sus4 on piano?

Play C♭, F♭ and G♭ together. Right hand fingers 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1. G♭ is a black key; C♭ and F♭ are white.

### What are the inversions of C♭sus4?

3 positions: root position C♭ F♭ G♭, C♭sus4/F♭, C♭sus4/G♭.

### What is the difference between C♭sus4 and C♭7sus4?

Adds B♭♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy C♭sus4 for small hands?

The root and third only voicing, C♭3 F♭4, spans 5 semitones or about 69 mm.

### What are the frequencies of C♭sus4?

From C♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 246.94, 329.63, 369.99 Hz.

### What is the set class of C♭sus4?

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

### How do I transpose C♭sus4 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 Bsus4 the same as C♭sus4?

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:c-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12