# D♭ Minor 6th piano chord (D♭m6)

D♭m6 contains D♭, F♭, A♭ and B♭. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. D♭, A♭ and B♭ are black keys; F♭ is white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/d-flat/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:d-flat
- Notes: D♭ F♭ A♭ B♭
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: D♭m6, Dbm6, D♭ minor 6th
- 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♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| 6 | B♭ | 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 B♭. 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 B♭3 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (D♭m6/F♭) | F♭ | F♭3 A♭3 B♭3 D♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (D♭m6/A♭) | A♭ | A♭3 B♭3 D♭4 F♭4 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (D♭m6/B♭) | B♭ | B♭3 D♭4 F♭4 A♭4 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | D♭3 F♭3 A♭3 B♭3 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | F♭3 A♭3 B♭3 D♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | A♭3 B♭3 D♭4 F♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | B♭3 D♭4 F♭4 A♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | A♭2 D♭3 F♭3 B♭3 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | F♭2 D♭3 A♭3 B♭3 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | D♭2 A♭2 F♭3 B♭3 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | D♭2 B♭2 F♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits A♭ |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | F♭3 B♭3 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits D♭ and A♭ |
| Rootless close | F♭3 A♭3 B♭3 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits D♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| D♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | drops B♭ | 3 |
| D♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | B♭ becomes C♭ | 3 |
| D♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | B♭ becomes C | 3 |
| D♭dim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | A♭ becomes A♭♭ | 3 |
| D♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | F♭ becomes F | 3 |
| D♭m9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | B♭ becomes C♭, E♭ | 3 |
| D♭ | 1 3 5 | F♭, B♭ becomes F | 2 |
| D♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | A♭, B♭ becomes A♭♭ | 2 |
| D♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | F♭, B♭ becomes E♭ | 2 |
| D♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | F♭, B♭ becomes G♭ | 2 |
| D♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | F♭, B♭ becomes F, C | 2 |
| D♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | F♭, B♭ becomes F, C♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {1, 4, 8, 10}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [8, 10, 1, 4]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D♭3 | 49 | 138.59 Hz |
| F♭3 | 52 | 164.81 Hz |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in D♭m6?

D♭m6 contains D♭, F♭, A♭ and B♭. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play D♭m6 on piano?

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

### What are the inversions of D♭m6?

4 positions: root position D♭ F♭ A♭ B♭, D♭m6/F♭, D♭m6/A♭, D♭m6/B♭.

### What is the difference between D♭m6 and D♭m?

Drops B♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy D♭m6 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, F♭3 B♭3, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of D♭m6?

From D♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 138.59, 164.81, 207.65, 233.08 Hz.

### What is the set class of D♭m6?

Prime form (0258), Forte 4-27, interval vector &lt;012111&gt;.

### How do I transpose D♭m6 to another key?

Keep the 1, ♭3, 5, 6 formula on the new root. Cm6 is C, E♭, G, A; C♯m6 is C♯, E, G♯, A♯.

### Is C♯m6 the same as D♭m6?

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:minor-6th:d-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12