Sevenths
D♯ dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
D♯7 is the V7 chord in A♭ major. In minor keys: V7 in G♯ minor.
- Notes
- D♯F𝄪A♯C♯
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play D♯7
About the D♯ dominant 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, D♯7 has an open-position shape, xx1023, using three fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E and A strings.
On piano, D♯7 has three black keys (D♯, A♯ and C♯) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual D♯7 shape is 0334, using three fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form F𝄪dim (F𝄪 A♯ C♯) — so you can think of D♯7 as F𝄪dim with D♯ added underneath.
Move a single note and D♯7 becomes a different chord: drop the C♯ for D♯, raise C♯ to C𝄪 for D♯maj7, lower F𝄪 to F♯ for D♯m7 and lower C♯ to B♯ for D♯6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find D♯7 in common progressions such as E♭7–A♭7–B♭7 (the 12-bar blues in E♭ major) and B♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in A♭ major).
Notice the F𝄪 in D♯7 (D♯ F𝄪 A♯ C♯): each note of the chord takes its own letter (D–F–A–C), so the major 3rd has to be written F𝄪 rather than G — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
