# D Major 7th piano chord (Dmaj7)

Dmaj7 contains D, F♯, A and C♯. A major triad with the major seventh added on top. F♯ and C♯ are black keys; D and A are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/major-7th/d/
- Entity: chord:major-7th:d
- 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: Dmaj7, Dmaj7, 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 1 on D, finger 2 on F♯, finger 3 on A, finger 5 on C♯. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 1-2-3-5, left hand 5-3-2-1. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | D | D3 F♯3 A3 C♯4 | 7 | 11 st, 151 mm |
| First inversion (Dmaj7/F♯) | F♯ | F♯3 A3 C♯4 D4 | 6/5 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Second inversion (Dmaj7/A) | A | A3 C♯4 D4 F♯4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (Dmaj7/C♯) | C♯ | C♯4 D4 F♯4 A4 | 4/2 | 8 st, 110 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | D3 F♯3 A3 C♯4 | 11 st, 151 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | F♯3 A3 C♯4 D4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | A3 C♯4 D4 F♯4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | C♯4 D4 F♯4 A4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | A2 D3 F♯3 C♯4 | 16 st, 220 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | F♯2 D3 A3 C♯4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | D2 A2 F♯3 C♯4 | 23 st, 316 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 7 3 | D2 C♯3 F♯3 | 16 st, 220 mm | subset | omits A |
| Guide tones, 3 and 7 | F♯3 C♯4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits D and A |
| Rootless close | F♯3 A3 C♯4 | 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 | Em7 to A7 to Dmaj7 | 2 tones held from A7 |
| IV, I | D major | Imaj7 | Gmaj7 to Dmaj7 | 2 tones held from Gmaj7 |
| I, vi, ii, V | D major | Imaj7 | Dmaj7 to Bm7 to Em7 to A7 | Dmaj7 opens the phrase |
| ♭VI, iv, i, v | F♯ minor | ♭VImaj7 | Dmaj7 to Bm7 to F♯m7 to C♯m7 | Dmaj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭VI | F♯ minor | ♭VImaj7 | F♯m7 to Dmaj7 | 3 tones held from F♯m7 |
| IV, V, I | A major | IVmaj7 | Dmaj7 to E7 to Amaj7 | Dmaj7 opens the phrase |
| I, IV | A major | IVmaj7 | Amaj7 to Dmaj7 | 2 tones held from Amaj7 |
| ♭III, ♭VI, ii, v | B minor | ♭IIImaj7 | Dmaj7 to Gmaj7 to C♯m7♭5 to F♯m7 | Dmaj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭III | B minor | ♭IIImaj7 | Bm7 to Dmaj7 | 3 tones held from Bm7 |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dmaj9 | 1 3 5 7 9 | adds E | 4 |
| D | 1 3 5 | drops C♯ | 3 |
| D7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C♯ becomes C | 3 |
| DmMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | F♯ becomes F | 3 |
| D6 | 1 3 5 6 | C♯ becomes B | 3 |
| Dadd9 | 1 3 5 9 | C♯ becomes E | 3 |
| D9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | C♯ becomes C, E | 3 |
| Dm | 1 ♭3 5 | F♯, C♯ becomes F | 2 |
| Daug | 1 3 ♯5 | A, C♯ becomes A♯ | 2 |
| Dsus2 | 1 2 5 | F♯, C♯ becomes E | 2 |
| Dsus4 | 1 4 5 | F♯, C♯ becomes G | 2 |
| Dm7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | F♯, C♯ becomes F, C | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {2, 6, 9, 1}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 4, 7, 11]
- Normal order: [1, 2, 6, 9]
- Prime form: (0158)
- Forte number: 4-20
- Interval vector: <101220>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D3 | 50 | 146.83 Hz |
| F♯3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| A3 | 57 | 220.00 Hz |
| C♯4 | 61 | 277.18 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in Dmaj7?

Dmaj7 contains D, F♯, A and C♯. The formula is 1, 3, 5, 7.

### How do you play Dmaj7 on piano?

Play D, F♯, A and C♯ together. Right hand fingers 1, 2, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 2, 1. F♯ and C♯ are black keys; D and A are white.

### What are the inversions of Dmaj7?

4 positions: root position D F♯ A C♯, Dmaj7/F♯, Dmaj7/A, Dmaj7/C♯.

### What keys contain Dmaj7?

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

### What is the difference between Dmaj7 and Dmaj9?

Adds E. 4 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy Dmaj7 for small hands?

The guide tones, 3 and 7 voicing, F♯3 C♯4, spans 7 semitones or about 96 mm.

### What are the frequencies of Dmaj7?

From D3 at A440 in 12-TET: 146.83, 185.00, 220.00, 277.18 Hz.

### What is the set class of Dmaj7?

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

### How do I transpose Dmaj7 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♯.

## 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
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12