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Piano chord · Major triad

D♭ major piano chord (D♭)

D♭ major is D♭ – F – A♭. Right hand fingers 1-3-5.

Root position
D♭D♭ major

D♭ – F – A♭

Built from the root, major 3rd, perfect 5th. Keys show right-hand fingers: 1 = thumb.

D flat major in root position on the treble staff
D flat major in root position on the treble staff
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RelatedC♯ minorC♯ – E – G♯ScaleD♭ major scaleOn piano, with right- and left-hand fingeringPracticePractice D♭Random prompts until the shape is automaticToolChord identifierPress keys and find out what you playedOn guitarD♭ guitar chordThe same chord as a guitar shapeAll chordsAll 43 piano chordsThe full major, minor and 7th chartPrintPiano chord chart PDFAll 43 chords, free

D♭, F and A♭, played together. Root position is lit on the keyboard above — press Play chord to hear it, or switch to an inversion.

Notes in D♭: D♭, F and A♭

NoteInterval from the rootKey around middle C
D♭RootC♯4 · black key
FMajor 3rdF4 · white key
A♭Perfect 5thG♯4 · black key
  • Chord symbol: D♭ — D♭ major
  • Formula: root, major 3rd, perfect 5th (0 · 4 · 7 half steps (semitones) from the root)
  • Right hand fingering: 1-3-5 — thumb, middle finger and little finger
  • Left hand fingering: 5-3-1, little finger on the root

How D♭ works

D♭ major is black–white–black: thumb and little finger on D♭ and A♭, finger 3 on F between them. Pianists love the key of D♭ for exactly this reason — the hand settles into the black keys instead of reaching for them, which is why so many ballads were written in it.

D♭ inversions

An inversion keeps the same notes and changes which one is at the bottom. That matters because it lets you move between chords without jumping: the closer the notes of the next chord are to the ones your hand is already holding, the smoother it sounds and the easier it is to play. Root position first, then two inversions.

  • Root position

    D♭–F–A♭ — the root, D♭, is at the bottom.

    Right hand1-3-5Left hand5-3-1

  • 1st inversion — F in the bass

    F–A♭–D♭ — the same three notes, reordered so F is lowest.

    Right hand1-2-5Left hand5-3-1

  • 2nd inversion — A♭ in the bass

    A♭–D♭–F — the same three notes, reordered so A♭ is lowest.

    Right hand1-3-5Left hand5-2-1

PositionNotes, lowest firstRight handLeft hand
Root positionD♭ – F – A♭1 – 3 – 55 – 3 – 1
1st inversionF – A♭ – D♭1 – 2 – 55 – 3 – 1
2nd inversionA♭ – D♭ – F1 – 3 – 55 – 2 – 1

1 = thumb, 5 = little finger. Notes listed from the lowest key up.

Common mistakes on D♭

  • Spelling it C♯–F–A♭. The keys sound the same as C♯ major, but D♭ is the spelling used in flat keys, and mixing the two makes the page unreadable.
  • Playing F♭ instead of F, because the shape looks as though it ought to be all black keys.
  • Letting the thumb slide back and wedge in the gap beside D♭ rather than sitting on the front of the key.

D♭ major FAQ

What notes are in D♭ major?

D♭, F and A♭: the root, major 3rd, perfect 5th.

What fingers do I use for D♭ major?

In root position, right hand 1-3-5 and left hand 5-3-1 (1 = thumb, 5 = little finger). 1st inversion: right hand 1-2-5, left hand 5-3-1; 2nd inversion: right hand 1-3-5, left hand 5-2-1.

What are the inversions of D♭ major?

1st inversion: F–A♭–D♭. 2nd inversion: A♭–D♭–F. Same notes, a different one at the bottom.

D♭ major piano chord diagram
D♭ piano chord chart: D♭, F, A♭ highlighted and labeled on the keyboard.

Piano chord data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.