Db7 piano chord, Db dominant 7th notes and fingering.

The Db7 piano chord is Db dominant 7th: Db, F, Ab and Cb. It is the Db major triad (Db, F, Ab) with a minor seventh (Cb) added on top, ten semitones above the root. A plain 7 in a chord name, as in Db7, always means this flat seventh, not the major seventh.

How to play Db7 on piano

1. Find Db on the keyboard. Db is the first black key of the pair, right after C. It is the same key as C#.
2. With your right hand, put finger 1 on Db, finger 2 on F, finger 3 on Ab and finger 5 on Cb. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press all four keys together. In root position they run from Db4 to Cb5, a reach of 10 semitones. Play chord sounds them together and Arpeggio sounds them one by one, from the bottom up.
4. Click Left hand to see the left hand. It plays Db3 to Cb4, one octave lower: Db with finger 5, F with finger 3, Ab with finger 2, Cb with finger 1.
5. The cards under the keyboard hold the four positions, with Db, F, Ab and Cb at the bottom in turn. Play and Arpeggio on a card play that position.
6. Open Note names. As written the keys read Db, F, Ab and Cb. Sharps shows C#, F, G# and B, and Flats shows Db, F, Ab and B. As written mixes sharps and flats on purpose, because each note takes its letter from its place in the chord.

How Db7 is built

Counted from the root, the formula is 0, 4, 7, 10. Stacked on each other the gaps are 4 + 3 + 3: a major third, a minor third and another minor third. The third (F) and the seventh (Cb) are 6 semitones apart, which is a tritone, the most tense interval in the chord. That pair is what makes the chord lean toward a resolution.

Worked example: the pitch of Db4. On a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz, a note 8 semitones below A4 has the frequency 440 × 2^(-8/12), which is about 277.18 Hz. F4 is 4 semitones below A4, so 440 × 2^(-4/12) gives about 349.23 Hz.

Db7 and C#7 are the same chord on the keyboard: the same four keys sound for both. Written as C#7 it reads C#, E#, G# and B. The key of Db major has 5 flats and the key of C# major has 7 sharps.

What the keys look like under your hand

The white keys beside Db are C on the left and D on the right, a semitone each way. Two of the four notes are black keys (Db and Ab) and two are white keys (F and Cb). Your thumb lands on Db, a black key with C and D beside it. Keep the thumb relaxed and slightly curved, and let the wrist stay level instead of twisting to reach. Finger 3 presses Ab, a black key between G and A. The middle fingers are the longest, so they reach black keys most easily.

Db7 inversions and fingering

Db7 has four positions. In root position Db is at the bottom. In the first inversion, F is at the bottom and the chord is written Db7/F. In the second inversion, Ab is at the bottom and the chord is written Db7/Ab. In the third inversion, Cb is at the bottom and the chord is written Db7/Cb. The tightest reach, 8 semitones from the lowest key to the highest, is the first inversion. The widest, at 10, is the root position.

The keys that hold Db7

Db7 fits two of the major and natural minor keys that have a standard key signature, which means every note of it comes from that key's scale. The simplest is Gb major, with 6 flats, where it is chord V7.

Progressions that use Db7, with the chord numbers and the chords in that key:

• Gb major: Imaj7-IVmaj7-V7-Imaj7, which is Gbmaj7, Cbmaj7, Db7, Gbmaj7, the three-chord cadence of folk, rock and blues.
• Eb minor: i7-VII7-VImaj7-VII7, which is Ebm7, Db7, Cbmaj7, Db7, a rocking figure between VII and VI.
• Gb major: vi7-IVmaj7-Imaj7-V7, which is Ebm7, Cbmaj7, Gbmaj7, Db7, the four-chord loop started from the vi chord.

Blues: a 12-bar blues in Db is built on Db7, Gb7 and Ab7.

Here is a worked example in Gb major. The chord before Db7 in the first progression above is Cbmaj7 (Cb, Eb, Gb and Bb). From Cbmaj7 in root position, the closest way to reach Db7 is its third inversion (Cb, Db, F and Ab, lowest note first): one note stays where it is, and the others move 5 semitones in total, counting each note against the note in the same place from the bottom.

Look at the top three notes of Db7: F, Ab and Cb make a F diminished chord (F, Ab and Cb). A dominant 7th is a diminished triad with the root added underneath.

What Db7 sounds like

The dominant 7th is restless. Its tritone between F and Cb pulls toward a resolution, and the chord most naturally moves to Gb, a fifth below Db. It is the sound of the blues too, where every chord can be a dominant 7th.

Here Db7 is the V7 chord in Gb major and the VII7 chord in Eb minor. In a 12-bar blues in Db the three chords are Db7, Gb7 and Ab7.

A common mistake with Db7

A common mistake is pressing C instead of Cb on top, one semitone higher than the seventh of Db7. That gives Dbmaj7 (Db, F, Ab and C), which sounds soft where Db7 sounds restless. Check the top note: it should be the lower of the two keys.

Chords to learn next

Chords close to Db7: Db major (the same chord without the seventh; shares Db, F and Ab); Dbmaj7 (a major seventh instead; shares Db, F and Ab); Dbm7, listed as C#m7 (a minor third instead; shares Db, Ab and Cb); Gb major, listed as F# major (the chord it leads to; shares Db).

Once Db7 feels easy, play it and then Gb major to hear the chord resolve. For chords beyond these six types, and for guitar and ukulele shapes, use the chord finder. To play along with your computer keys, open the virtual piano. The piano chords page lists all 72 chords.