# D♭ Suspended 2nd piano chord (D♭sus2)

D♭sus2 contains D♭, E♭ and A♭. The third replaced by the second. Every note is a black key.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/suspended-2nd/d-flat/
- Entity: chord:sus2:d-flat
- Notes: D♭ E♭ A♭
- Formula: 1 2 5
- Intervals from root: P1, M2, P5
- Interval stack (semitones): 2 5
- Also written: D♭sus2, Dbsus2, D♭ suspended 2nd
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | D♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 2 | E♭ | Major second | 2 |
| 5 | A♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on D♭, finger 3 on E♭, 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 E♭3 A♭3 | 5/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| First inversion (D♭sus2/E♭) | E♭ | E♭3 A♭3 D♭4 | 6/3 | 10 st, 138 mm |
| Second inversion (D♭sus2/A♭) | A♭ | A♭3 D♭4 E♭4 | 6/4 | 7 st, 96 mm |

## Voicings (5)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | D♭3 E♭3 A♭3 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | E♭3 A♭3 D♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | A♭3 D♭4 E♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Open, fifth on top | D♭2 A♭2 E♭3 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Root and third only | D♭3 E♭3 | 2 st, 28 mm | subset | omits A♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| D♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | adds F | 3 |
| D♭ | 1 3 5 | E♭ becomes F | 2 |
| D♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | E♭ becomes F♭ | 2 |
| D♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | E♭ becomes G♭ | 2 |
| D♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | E♭ becomes F, C | 2 |
| D♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | E♭ becomes F, C♭ | 2 |
| D♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | E♭ becomes F♭, C♭ | 2 |
| D♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | E♭ becomes F♭, C | 2 |
| D♭7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | E♭ becomes G♭, C♭ | 2 |
| D♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | E♭ becomes F, B♭ | 2 |
| D♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | E♭ becomes F♭, B♭ | 2 |
| D♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | E♭, A♭ becomes F♭, A♭♭ | 1 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {1, 3, 8}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 2, 7]
- Normal order: [1, 3, 8]
- Prime form: (027)
- Forte number: 3-9
- Interval vector: <010020>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D♭3 | 49 | 138.59 Hz |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in D♭sus2?

D♭sus2 contains D♭, E♭ and A♭. The formula is 1, 2, 5.

### How do you play D♭sus2 on piano?

Play D♭, E♭ and A♭ together. Right hand fingers 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1. Every note is a black key.

### What are the inversions of D♭sus2?

3 positions: root position D♭ E♭ A♭, D♭sus2/E♭, D♭sus2/A♭.

### What is the difference between D♭sus2 and D♭add9?

Adds F. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy D♭sus2 for small hands?

The root and third only voicing, D♭3 E♭3, spans 2 semitones or about 28 mm.

### What are the frequencies of D♭sus2?

From D♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 138.59, 155.56, 207.65 Hz.

### What is the set class of D♭sus2?

Prime form (027), Forte 3-9, interval vector &lt;010020&gt;.

### How do I transpose D♭sus2 to another key?

Keep the 1, 2, 5 formula on the new root. Csus2 is C, D, G; C♯sus2 is C♯, D♯, G♯.

### Is C♯sus2 the same as D♭sus2?

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:sus2:d-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12