Piano chord · Dominant 7th
D dominant 7th piano chord (D7)
D, F♯, A and C, played together. Root position is highlighted on the keyboard below — press play to hear it.
Notes in D7: D, F♯, A and C
| Note | Interval from the root | Key around middle C |
|---|---|---|
| D | Root | D4 · white key |
| F♯ | Major 3rd | F♯4 · black key |
| A | Perfect 5th | A4 · white key |
| C | Minor 7th | C5 · white key |
- Chord symbol: D7 — D dominant 7th
- Formula: R · 3 · 5 · b7 (0 · 4 · 7 · 10 semitones from the root)
- Right hand fingering: 1-2-3-5 — thumb, index, middle and little finger
- Left hand fingering: 5-3-2-1, little finger on the root
How D7 works
D7 is the dominant of G major, so it is the chord that pulls a piece home in a key beginners meet early. Its four notes wrap around the black F♯ in the middle, which is what makes 1-2-3-5 the natural fingering.
D7 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 three inversions.
Root position
D–F♯–A–C — the root, D, is at the bottom.
1st inversion — F♯ in the bass
F♯–A–C–D — the same four notes, reordered so F♯ is lowest.
2nd inversion — A in the bass
A–C–D–F♯ — the same four notes, reordered so A is lowest.
3rd inversion — C in the bass
C–D–F♯–A — the same four notes, reordered so C is lowest.
Common mistakes on D7
- Playing F natural instead of F♯ — that gives Dm7, not D7.
- Playing C♯ on top out of habit from the D major scale; the seventh of D7 is C natural.
- Letting the thumb and little finger take all the weight so the two inner notes barely sound.
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.