Dbmaj7 piano chord, Db major 7th notes and fingering.

The Dbmaj7 piano chord is Db major 7th: Db, F, Ab and C. It is the Db major triad with the major seventh (C) added on top, eleven semitones above the root and a single semitone below the next Db. Chord charts write it as Dbmaj7, DbMaj7 or DbM7.

How to play Dbmaj7 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 C. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press all four keys together. In root position they run from Db4 to C5, a reach of 11 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 C4, one octave lower: Db with finger 5, F with finger 3, Ab with finger 2, C with finger 1.
5. The cards under the keyboard hold the four positions, with Db, F, Ab and C 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 C. Sharps shows C#, F, G# and C, and Flats shows Db, F, Ab and C. This chord is written with flats, so As written and Flats match.

How Dbmaj7 is built

Counted from the root, the formula is 0, 4, 7, 11. Stacked on each other the gaps are 4 + 3 + 4: a major third, a minor third and another major third. The seventh (C) sits one semitone under the next Db, so the top and the root rub together very gently. That small clash gives the chord its soft, spacious sound.

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.

Dbmaj7 and C#maj7 are the same chord on the keyboard: the same four keys sound for both. Written as C#maj7 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 C). 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.

Dbmaj7 inversions and fingering

Dbmaj7 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 Dbmaj7/F. In the second inversion, Ab is at the bottom and the chord is written Dbmaj7/Ab. In the third inversion, C is at the bottom and the chord is written Dbmaj7/C. The tightest reach, 8 semitones from the lowest key to the highest, is the first inversion and third inversion. The widest, at 11, is the root position.

The keys that hold Dbmaj7

Dbmaj7 fits four 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 Ab major, with 4 flats, where it is chord IVmaj7.

Progressions that use Dbmaj7, with the chord numbers and the chords in that key:

• Ab major: Imaj7-IVmaj7-V7-Imaj7, which is Abmaj7, Dbmaj7, Eb7, Abmaj7, the three-chord cadence of folk, rock and blues.
• F minor: i7-VImaj7-IIImaj7-VII7, which is Fm7, Dbmaj7, Abmaj7, Eb7, a common minor-key loop.
• Db major: Imaj7-V7-vi7-IVmaj7, which is Dbmaj7, Ab7, Bbm7, Gbmaj7, the four-chord loop heard in a great deal of pop.

Here is a worked example in Ab major. The chord before Dbmaj7 in the first progression above is Abmaj7 (Ab, C, Eb and G). From Abmaj7 in root position, the closest way to reach Dbmaj7 is its second inversion (Ab, C, Db and F, lowest note first): two notes stay where they are, and the others move 4 semitones in total, counting each note against the note in the same place from the bottom.

Look at the top three notes of Dbmaj7: F, Ab and C make a F minor chord (F, Ab and C). A major 7th is a minor triad with the root added underneath.

What Dbmaj7 sounds like

Major 7th chords sound soft, warm and a little dreamy. They are at home in jazz, soul, bossa nova, lo-fi and ballads, and they do not need to resolve the way a dominant 7th does, so they can sit at the end of a phrase.

Dbmaj7 is the IVmaj7 chord in Ab major, the VImaj7 chord in F minor and the Imaj7 chord in Db major.

A common mistake with Dbmaj7

A common mistake is pressing Cb instead of C on top, one semitone lower than the seventh of Dbmaj7. That gives Db7 (Db, F, Ab and Cb), a dominant 7th with a tense sound. The top note of Dbmaj7 should be the one right below the next Db.

Chords to learn next

Chords close to Dbmaj7: Db major (the same chord without the seventh; shares Db, F and Ab); Db7 (a flat seventh instead; shares Db, F and Ab); Bbm7 (shares three notes with it); Dbm7, listed as C#m7 (a minor third instead; shares Db and Ab).

Once Dbmaj7 feels easy, play it and then Db7 to hear what the flat seventh does. 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.