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

G♭sus4 contains G♭, C♭ and D♭. The third replaced by the fourth. G♭ and D♭ are black keys; C♭ is white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/suspended-4th/g-flat/
- Entity: chord:sus4:g-flat
- Notes: G♭ C♭ D♭
- Formula: 1 4 5
- Intervals from root: P1, P4, P5
- Interval stack (semitones): 5 2
- Also written: G♭sus4, Gbsus4, G♭ suspended 4th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

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

## Fingering

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

## Voicings (5)

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

## One-edit neighbors

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

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {6, 11, 1}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 5, 7]
- Normal order: [11, 1, 6]
- Prime form: (027)
- Forte number: 3-9
- Interval vector: <010020>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| G♭3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| C♭3 | 59 | 246.94 Hz |
| D♭4 | 61 | 277.18 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in G♭sus4?

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

### How do you play G♭sus4 on piano?

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

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

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

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

Adds F♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

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

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

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

From G♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 185.00, 246.94, 277.18 Hz.

### What is the set class of G♭sus4?

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

### How do I transpose G♭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 F♯sus4 the same as G♭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:g-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12