Fsus4 Chord on Ukulele
Fsus4 = F – A# – C (Root, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th)
A chord is the same notes however you stack them, and which one sits at the bottom changes how it sounds. The chord builder puts each of Fsus4's notes in the bass in turn, names the result, and plays it.
Hear every inversion of Fsus4 →F suspended fourth combines an open string with a small barre and one separate finger: the C string rings open for the fifth, a barre across the E and A strings at the first fret covers the root and a doubled fourth together, and the G string adds another statement of the fourth on its own at the third fret. It's a genuinely varied shape, mixing three different techniques — open string, barre, individual finger — in a single compact chord.
Swapping F major's third for the fourth scale degree gives Fsus4 the same forward-leaning, unresolved quality every sus4 chord carries, a half-step's distance from the third that keeps the ear expecting resolution. It's a natural pre-resolution flourish right before a phrase lands on plain F major, a strumming device borrowed from folk and rock guitar accompaniment that translates directly onto ukulele. Because the fourth is stated twice — once in the barre, once on the G string — this particular voicing leans into that suspended tension more insistently than a version that stated the note only once would.
Fingerings
Open Position
How to Practice It
Set the E-A barre at the first fret first, since it covers two notes at once, then add the G string's third fret as a separate reach and let the open C string ring untouched throughout. Practicing the release into plain F major — reforming the barre and moving the G string's finger — clarifies which specific note carries the suspended color and which are shared between the two chords.
Common Progressions
- Bb - Fsus4 - F, letting the suspended fourth hang briefly before it drops into the tonic
- I(sus4) - I - IV - V (Fsus4 - F - Bb - C)
- IV - V - I(sus4) - I (Bb - C - Fsus4 - F)
- A repeated Fsus4-to-F alternation works as a simple rhythmic vamp.
FAQ
- Why does Fsus4 combine three different techniques in one chord?
- Its three notes simply happen to fall in three different physical arrangements on the GCEA strings — one open, one barred pair, and one individual finger — rather than any single technique covering all of them.
- How does Fsus4 resolve back to plain F major?
- The barre reforms and the G string's finger moves, while the open C string carries over unchanged throughout both chords.
- Why does the suspended fourth appear twice in this voicing?
- The G string and the barred E-A pair both happen to land on that same pitch class, an accident of where the note falls relative to those strings' open tunings.
- Is Fsus4 commonly used as a rhythmic embellishment?
- Yes — a quick anticipatory flourish right before a downbeat landing on plain F is a common strumming habit carried over from guitar accompaniment.
- Is there a way to play Fsus4 without the barre?
- Yes, using three separate fingers instead of barring the E and A strings, at the cost of a slightly more cramped hand position.
- What note does Fsus4 add compared to plain F major?
- Bb, the fourth scale degree, appearing on both the G string's third fret and the barred E-A pair's first fret.
- Would dropping the G string's third-fret note make Fsus4 easier without losing the chord's identity?
- Yes, in a pinch — since the barred E-A pair already supplies the suspended fourth once, letting the G string ring open instead trades a slightly less insistent tension for a genuinely simpler two-technique shape.
- Is Fsus4 more commonly heard as a rock or a folk device on ukulele?
- Both traditions use it, but the specific pre-beat suspension-into-downbeat pattern this chord favors traces back most directly to strummed folk and singer-songwriter guitar accompaniment that ukulele arrangers adopted wholesale.
- How many of Fsus4's four fretted points are actually independent pitches?
- Just two distinct notes — the root and the doubled fourth — spread across three fretted contacts and one open string, since the barre restates the fourth a second time rather than adding anything new.
Fsus4 on other instruments: Fsus4 on Guitar, Fsus4 on Piano. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.