Triads
D♯ minor chord
Darker and more melancholy than major, but just as stable.
D♯m is the ii chord in D♭ major, iii in B major and vi in F♯ major. In minor keys: i in E♭ minor and iv in B♭ minor.
- Notes
- D♯F♯A♯
- Formula
- 1♭35
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th
How to play D♯m
About the D♯ minor chord
Playing it
There’s no open-string way to play D♯m on guitar with the root in the bass, so the standard shape is a barre across the 6th fret (x68876).
On piano, every note of D♯m is a black key.
On ukulele the usual D♯m shape is 3321, using four fingers.
Related chords
D♯m shares two of its three notes with F♯ (F♯ and A♯), its relative major, and with B (D♯ and F♯). That overlap is why these chords sound so natural next to each other — and why they can often stand in for one another.
Move a single note and D♯m becomes a different chord: raise F♯ to F𝄪 for D♯, add C♯ for D♯m7, swap F♯ for G♯ for D♯sus4 and lower F♯ to E♯ for D♯sus2.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find D♯m in common progressions such as D♯m–B–F♯–C♯ (the minor-feel pop progression in F♯ major), D♯m–G♯m–A♯–D♯m (the minor cadence in D♯ minor) and D♯m–C♯–B–A♯ (the Andalusian cadence in D♯ minor).
