# D♭ Major 7th piano chord (D♭maj7)

D♭maj7 contains D♭, F, A♭ and C. A major triad with the major seventh added on top. D♭ and A♭ are black keys; F and C are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/major-7th/d-flat/
- Entity: chord:major-7th:d-flat
- Notes: D♭ F A♭ C
- Formula: 1 3 5 7
- Intervals from root: P1, M3, P5, M7
- Interval stack (semitones): 4 3 4
- Also written: D♭maj7, Dbmaj7, D♭ major 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 | Major third | 4 |
| 5 | A♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| 7 | C | Major seventh | 11 |

## 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 F3 A♭3 C4 | 7 | 11 st, 151 mm |
| First inversion (D♭maj7/F) | F | F3 A♭3 C4 D♭4 | 6/5 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Second inversion (D♭maj7/A♭) | A♭ | A♭3 C4 D♭4 F4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (D♭maj7/C) | C | C4 D♭4 F4 A♭4 | 4/2 | 8 st, 110 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | D♭3 F3 A♭3 C4 | 11 st, 151 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | F3 A♭3 C4 D♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | A♭3 C4 D♭4 F4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | C4 D♭4 F4 A♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | A♭2 D♭3 F3 C4 | 16 st, 220 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | F2 D♭3 A♭3 C4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | D♭2 A♭2 F3 C4 | 23 st, 316 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 7 3 | D♭2 C3 F3 | 16 st, 220 mm | subset | omits A♭ |
| Guide tones, 3 and 7 | F3 C4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits D♭ and A♭ |
| Rootless close | F3 A♭3 C4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits D♭ |

## Diatonic function by key

| Key | Roman numeral | Function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D♭ major | Imaj7 | Tonic, home |
| F minor | ♭VImaj7 | Pre-dominant colour |
| A♭ major | IVmaj7 | Subdominant, away from home |
| B♭ minor | ♭IIImaj7 | Relative-major colour |

Classification system: common-practice functional harmony.

## Progressions (9)

| Progression | Key | Role | Sequence | Voice leading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ii, V, I | D♭ major | Imaj7 | E♭m7 to A♭7 to D♭maj7 | 2 tones held from A♭7 |
| IV, I | D♭ major | Imaj7 | G♭maj7 to D♭maj7 | 2 tones held from G♭maj7 |
| I, vi, ii, V | D♭ major | Imaj7 | D♭maj7 to B♭m7 to E♭m7 to A♭7 | D♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| ♭VI, iv, i, v | F minor | ♭VImaj7 | D♭maj7 to B♭m7 to Fm7 to Cm7 | D♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭VI | F minor | ♭VImaj7 | Fm7 to D♭maj7 | 3 tones held from Fm7 |
| IV, V, I | A♭ major | IVmaj7 | D♭maj7 to E♭7 to A♭maj7 | D♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| I, IV | A♭ major | IVmaj7 | A♭maj7 to D♭maj7 | 2 tones held from A♭maj7 |
| ♭III, ♭VI, ii, v | B♭ minor | ♭IIImaj7 | D♭maj7 to G♭maj7 to Cm7♭5 to Fm7 | D♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭III | B♭ minor | ♭IIImaj7 | B♭m7 to D♭maj7 | 3 tones held from B♭m7 |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| D♭maj9 | 1 3 5 7 9 | adds E♭ | 4 |
| D♭ | 1 3 5 | drops C | 3 |
| D♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C becomes C♭ | 3 |
| D♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | F becomes F♭ | 3 |
| D♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | C becomes B♭ | 3 |
| D♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | C becomes E♭ | 3 |
| D♭9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | C becomes C♭, E♭ | 3 |
| D♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | F, C becomes F♭ | 2 |
| D♭aug | 1 3 ♯5 | A♭, C becomes A | 2 |
| D♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | F, C becomes E♭ | 2 |
| D♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | F, C becomes G♭ | 2 |
| D♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | F, C becomes F♭, C♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {1, 5, 8, 0}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 4, 7, 11]
- Normal order: [0, 1, 5, 8]
- Prime form: (0158)
- Forte number: 4-20
- Interval vector: <101220>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D♭3 | 49 | 138.59 Hz |
| F3 | 53 | 174.61 Hz |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in D♭maj7?

D♭maj7 contains D♭, F, A♭ and C. The formula is 1, 3, 5, 7.

### How do you play D♭maj7 on piano?

Play D♭, F, A♭ and C together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. D♭ and A♭ are black keys; F and C are white.

### What are the inversions of D♭maj7?

4 positions: root position D♭ F A♭ C, D♭maj7/F, D♭maj7/A♭, D♭maj7/C.

### What keys contain D♭maj7?

4: Imaj7 in D♭ major, ♭VImaj7 in F minor, IVmaj7 in A♭ major, ♭IIImaj7 in B♭ minor.

### What is the difference between D♭maj7 and D♭maj9?

Adds E♭. 4 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy D♭maj7 for small hands?

The guide tones, 3 and 7 voicing, F3 C4, spans 7 semitones or about 96 mm.

### What are the frequencies of D♭maj7?

From D♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 138.59, 174.61, 207.65, 261.63 Hz.

### What is the set class of D♭maj7?

Prime form (0158), Forte 4-20, interval vector &lt;101220&gt;.

### How do I transpose D♭maj7 to another key?

Keep the 1, 3, 5, 7 formula on the new root. Cmaj7 is C, E, G, B; C♯maj7 is C♯, E♯, G♯, B♯.

### Is C♯maj7 the same as D♭maj7?

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:major-7th:d-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12