Db

Db7b5

Notes

Db · F · Abb · Cb

Intervals

  • RootDb (1P)
  • Major 3rdF (3M)
  • Diminished 5thAbb (5d)
  • Minor 7thCb (7m)

Fretboard

EBGDAE357912FAbBDbBDbFAbBAbBDbFFAbBDbBDbFAbFAbBDb

On the fretboard, Ab represents Abb, and B represents Cb.

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About

The D♭7♭5 (D♭FA♭♭C♭) lowers the fifth, replacing the stable perfect fifth with a tritone above the root. Combined with the tritone already present between 3rd and ♭7, the chord contains two tritones — making it extremely unstable and dissonant. In jazz, 7♭5 functions as an altered dominant with a particular flavour of harmonic restlessness. The 3rd, ♭7, and ♭5 are all essential; the A♭♭ is the defining alteration, and omitting it leaves a plain D♭7. It resolves typically to G♭ or G♭m. Compared to standard D♭7, 7♭5 is considerably more harmonically tense.

Similar chords

Chords sharing two or more notes with this one, ranked by overlap.

Scales containing this chord

Scales whose notes include every chord tone. Roman numeral marks the chord root’s position in the scale; dashed badges aren’t linked yet.

Other Dominant ♭5 chords

Other D♭ chords