# D♭ Diminished piano chord (D♭dim)

D♭dim contains D♭, F♭ and A♭♭. Two stacked minor thirds. D♭ is a black key; F♭ and A♭♭ are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/diminished/d-flat/
- Entity: chord:diminished:d-flat
- Notes: D♭ F♭ A♭♭
- Formula: 1 ♭3 ♭5
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, TT
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 3
- Also written: D♭dim, Dbdim, D♭ diminished
- 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 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on D♭, finger 3 on F♭, finger 5 on A♭♭. 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 | D♭ | D♭3 F♭3 A♭♭3 | 5/3 | 6 st, 83 mm |
| First inversion (D♭dim/F♭) | F♭ | F♭3 A♭♭3 D♭4 | 6/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (D♭dim/A♭♭) | A♭♭ | A♭♭3 D♭4 F♭4 | 6/4 | 9 st, 124 mm |

## Voicings (5)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | D♭3 F♭3 A♭♭3 | 6 st, 83 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | F♭3 A♭♭3 D♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | A♭♭3 D♭4 F♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Open, fifth on top | D♭2 A♭♭2 F♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | identical | none |
| Root and third only | D♭3 F♭3 | 3 st, 41 mm | subset | omits A♭♭ |

## Diatonic function by key

| Key | Roman numeral | Function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D major | vii° | Dominant function |
| B minor | ii° | Predominant |

Classification system: common-practice functional harmony.

## Progressions (2)

| Progression | Key | Role | Sequence | Voice leading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| vii°, I | D major | vii° | C♯dim to D | D♭dim opens the phrase |
| ii°, v, i | B minor | ii° | C♯dim to F♯m to Bm | D♭dim opens the phrase |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| D♭m7♭5 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 | adds C♭ | 3 |
| D♭dim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | adds C♭♭ | 3 |
| D♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | A♭♭ becomes A♭ | 2 |
| D♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | A♭♭ becomes A♭, C♭ | 2 |
| D♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | A♭♭ becomes A♭, C | 2 |
| D♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | A♭♭ becomes A♭, B♭ | 2 |
| D♭ | 1 3 5 | F♭, A♭♭ becomes F, A♭ | 1 |
| D♭aug | 1 3 ♯5 | F♭, A♭♭ becomes F, A | 1 |
| D♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | F♭, A♭♭ becomes E♭, A♭ | 1 |
| D♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | F♭, A♭♭ becomes G♭, A♭ | 1 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {1, 4, 7}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 6]
- Normal order: [1, 4, 7]
- Prime form: (036)
- Forte number: 3-10
- Interval vector: <002001>

## 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 |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in D♭dim?

D♭dim contains D♭, F♭ and A♭♭. The formula is 1, ♭3, ♭5.

### How do you play D♭dim on piano?

Play D♭, F♭ and A♭♭ together. Right hand fingers 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1. D♭ is a black key; F♭ and A♭♭ are white.

### What are the inversions of D♭dim?

3 positions: root position D♭ F♭ A♭♭, D♭dim/F♭, D♭dim/A♭♭.

### What keys contain D♭dim?

2: vii° in D major, ii° in B minor.

### What is the difference between D♭dim and D♭m7♭5?

Adds C♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy D♭dim for small hands?

The root and third only voicing, D♭3 F♭3, spans 3 semitones or about 41 mm.

### What are the frequencies of D♭dim?

From D♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 138.59, 164.81, 196.00 Hz.

### What is the set class of D♭dim?

Prime form (036), Forte 3-10, interval vector &lt;002001&gt;.

### How do I transpose D♭dim to another key?

Keep the 1, ♭3, ♭5 formula on the new root. Cdim is C, E♭, G♭; C♯dim is C♯, E, G.

### Is C♯dim the same as D♭dim?

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:d-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12