# D♭ Diminished 7th piano chord (D♭dim7) D♭dim7 contains D♭, F♭, A♭♭ and C♭♭. Three stacked minor thirds. D♭ and C♭♭ are black keys; F♭ and A♭♭ are white. - Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/diminished-7th/d-flat/ - Entity: chord:diminished-7th:d-flat - Notes: D♭ F♭ A♭♭ C♭♭ - Formula: 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 - Intervals from root: P1, m3, TT, M6 - Interval stack (semitones): 3 3 3 - Also written: D♭dim7, Dbdim7, D♭ diminished 7th - Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre ## Construction | Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | D♭ | Perfect unison | 0 | | ♭3 | F♭ | Minor third | 3 | | ♭5 | A♭♭ | Tritone | 6 | | ♭♭7 | C♭♭ | Major sixth | 9 | ## Fingering Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on D♭, finger 3 on F♭, finger 4 on A♭♭, finger 5 on C♭♭. The left hand mirrors it. Right hand 2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2. Source: piano.org fingering method v1. ## Inversions | Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Root position | D♭ | D♭3 F♭3 A♭♭3 C♭♭3 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm | | First inversion (D♭dim7/F♭) | F♭ | F♭3 A♭♭3 C♭♭3 D♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm | | Second inversion (D♭dim7/A♭♭) | A♭♭ | A♭♭3 C♭♭3 D♭4 F♭4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm | | Third inversion (D♭dim7/C♭♭) | C♭♭ | C♭♭3 D♭4 F♭4 A♭♭4 | 4/2 | 9 st, 124 mm | ## Voicings (10) | Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Close, root position | D♭3 F♭3 A♭♭3 C♭♭3 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none | | Close, first inversion | F♭3 A♭♭3 C♭♭3 D♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none | | Close, second inversion | A♭♭3 C♭♭3 D♭4 F♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none | | Close, third inversion | C♭♭3 D♭4 F♭4 A♭♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none | | Drop 2 | A♭♭2 D♭3 F♭3 C♭♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | identical | none | | Drop 3 | F♭2 D♭3 A♭♭3 C♭♭3 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none | | Drop 2 and 4 | D♭2 A♭♭2 F♭3 C♭♭3 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none | | Shell, root ♭♭7 ♭3 | D♭2 C♭♭2 F♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits A♭♭ | | Guide tones, ♭3 and ♭♭7 | F♭3 C♭♭3 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits D♭ and A♭♭ | | Rootless close | F♭3 A♭♭3 C♭♭3 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits D♭ | ## One-edit neighbors | Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | D♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | drops C♭♭ | 3 | | D♭m7♭5 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 | C♭♭ becomes C♭ | 3 | | D♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | A♭♭ becomes A♭ | 3 | | D♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | A♭♭, C♭♭ becomes A♭ | 2 | | D♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | A♭♭, C♭♭ becomes A♭, C♭ | 2 | | D♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | A♭♭, C♭♭ becomes A♭, C | 2 | | D♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | F♭, A♭♭ becomes F, A♭ | 2 | ## Set theory - Absolute pitch classes: {1, 4, 7, 10} - Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 6, 9] - Normal order: [1, 4, 7, 10] - Prime form: (0369) - Forte number: 4-28 - Interval vector: <004002> ## Frequencies (close root position) | Note | MIDI | Frequency | | --- | --- | --- | | D♭3 | 49 | 138.59 Hz | | F♭3 | 52 | 164.81 Hz | | A♭♭3 | 55 | 196.00 Hz | | C♭♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz | ## Questions and answers ### What notes are in D♭dim7? D♭dim7 contains D♭, F♭, A♭♭ and C♭♭. The formula is 1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭♭7. ### How do you play D♭dim7 on piano? Play D♭, F♭, A♭♭ and C♭♭ together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. D♭ and C♭♭ are black keys; F♭ and A♭♭ are white. ### What are the inversions of D♭dim7? 4 positions: root position D♭ F♭ A♭♭ C♭♭, D♭dim7/F♭, D♭dim7/A♭♭, D♭dim7/C♭♭. ### What is the difference between D♭dim7 and D♭dim? Drops C♭♭. 3 of the notes are shared. ### What is an easy D♭dim7 for small hands? The guide tones, ♭3 and ♭♭7 voicing, F♭3 C♭♭3, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm. ### What are the frequencies of D♭dim7? From D♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 138.59, 164.81, 196.00, 233.08 Hz. ### What is the set class of D♭dim7? Prime form (0369), Forte 4-28, interval vector <004002>. ### How do I transpose D♭dim7 to another key? Keep the 1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭♭7 formula on the new root. C♯dim7 is C♯, E, G, B♭; Ddim7 is D, F, A♭, C♭. ### Is C♯dim7 the same as D♭dim7? 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:diminished-7th:d-flat Last reviewed: 2026-08-12