D#sus4 chord on piano
D# sus4
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Notes
Understanding the D#sus4 chord
How it's built: The suspended fourth (sus4) chord replaces the third with a perfect fourth (root, perfect fourth, and perfect fifth). The fourth note hangs 'suspended', creating a very specific harmonic friction against the fifth.
How it sounds: It generates elegant and highly expectant tension. It doesn't sound ugly or dissonant, but it is clearly incomplete. The human ear, accustomed to centuries of Western music, instinctively expects that fourth to descend and resolve into the third.
Where to use it: It is the number-one trick for dramatically stretching a musical arrival. The classic movement is V(sus4) resolving to V and finally to I. In stadium rock, it is a glorious cliché (think of the opening riff of 'Pinball Wizard' by The Who or Queen's intros). Its true energy lies in gratifyingly delaying the harmonic resolution.