About the A flat seven suspended four chord
A flat seven suspended four is used in G flat Major, where every note it holds is a scale tone. Think of it as an A♭ dominant seventh suspended fourth chord.
Its notes are A♭, D♭, E♭, and G♭. The intervals are a perfect fourth, a perfect fifth, and a minor seventh.
Also called 7sus. G sharp seven suspended four spells the same notes enharmonically.
Inversions
A flat seven suspended four (root position)
Notes and intervals
| 1 | AbA♭ | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | DbD♭ | Perfect 4th |
| 3 | EbE♭ | Perfect 5th |
| 4 | GbG♭ | Minor 7th |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Other A flat chords
Simpler triads
Suspended
Sixths and sevenths
Extensions
Altered
Functional relationships
These chords are where this one most naturally comes from and resolves to inside a key.
Dominant
The dominant is a fifth above the root, and it builds tension that pulls strongly back to this chord.
Subdominant
The subdominant is a fourth above the root (a fifth below), and it usually leads on to the dominant or back home.
Tritone substitution
The tritone substitution is a dominant chord a tritone away that shares the same tension, so it can stand in for this chord and resolve the same way.
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