# D♭ Suspended 4th piano chord (D♭sus4)

D♭sus4 contains D♭, G♭ and A♭. The third replaced by the fourth. Every note is a black key.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/suspended-4th/d-flat/
- Entity: chord:sus4:d-flat
- Notes: D♭ G♭ A♭
- Formula: 1 4 5
- Intervals from root: P1, P4, P5
- Interval stack (semitones): 5 2
- Also written: D♭sus4, Dbsus4, D♭ suspended 4th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | D♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 4 | G♭ | Perfect fourth | 5 |
| 5 | A♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on D♭, finger 3 on G♭, 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 G♭3 A♭3 | 5/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| First inversion (D♭sus4/G♭) | G♭ | G♭3 A♭3 D♭4 | 6/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| Second inversion (D♭sus4/A♭) | A♭ | A♭3 D♭4 G♭4 | 6/4 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (5)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | D♭3 G♭3 A♭3 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | G♭3 A♭3 D♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | A♭3 D♭4 G♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Open, fifth on top | D♭2 A♭2 G♭3 | 17 st, 234 mm | identical | none |
| Root and third only | D♭3 G♭3 | 5 st, 69 mm | subset | omits A♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| D♭7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | adds C♭ | 3 |
| D♭ | 1 3 5 | G♭ becomes F | 2 |
| D♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | G♭ becomes F♭ | 2 |
| D♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | G♭ becomes E♭ | 2 |
| D♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | G♭ becomes F, C | 2 |
| D♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | G♭ becomes F, C♭ | 2 |
| D♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | G♭ becomes F♭, C♭ | 2 |
| D♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | G♭ becomes F♭, C | 2 |
| D♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | G♭ becomes F, B♭ | 2 |
| D♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | G♭ becomes F♭, B♭ | 2 |
| D♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | G♭ becomes F, E♭ | 2 |
| D♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | G♭, A♭ becomes F♭, A♭♭ | 1 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {1, 6, 8}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 5, 7]
- Normal order: [6, 8, 1]
- Prime form: (027)
- Forte number: 3-9
- Interval vector: <010020>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| D♭3 | 49 | 138.59 Hz |
| G♭3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| A♭3 | 56 | 207.65 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in D♭sus4?

D♭sus4 contains D♭, G♭ and A♭. The formula is 1, 4, 5.

### How do you play D♭sus4 on piano?

Play D♭, G♭ 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♭sus4?

3 positions: root position D♭ G♭ A♭, D♭sus4/G♭, D♭sus4/A♭.

### What is the difference between D♭sus4 and D♭7sus4?

Adds C♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy D♭sus4 for small hands?

The root and third only voicing, D♭3 G♭3, spans 5 semitones or about 69 mm.

### What are the frequencies of D♭sus4?

From D♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 138.59, 185.00, 207.65 Hz.

### What is the set class of D♭sus4?

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

### How do I transpose D♭sus4 to another key?

Keep the 1, 4, 5 formula on the new root. Csus4 is C, F, G; C♯sus4 is C♯, F♯, G♯.

### Is C♯sus4 the same as D♭sus4?

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:sus4:d-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12