What notes are in the Db 7#5#9 chord?

The Db 7#5#9 chord contains the notes Db · F · A · Cb · E: the root Db with the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9A stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Db, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the Db 7#5#9 chord?

Measured from Db, the Db 7#5#9 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9A. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

How do I play the Db 7#5#9 chord?

On guitar the most common Db 7#5#9 shape is x43200, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Db3 · F3 · A3 · Cb3 · E4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

Db 7#5#9 Chord (Db7#5#9): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Db3 · F3 · A3 · Cb3 · E4
Open (drop 2)	Cb2 · Db3 · F3 · A3 · E4
Shell	Db3 · F3 · Cb3
Rootless	F3 · Cb3 · E4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Db 7#5#9 (Db7#5#9) contains the notes Db · F · A · Cb · E, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords · extensions

Inversions

An inversion of Db 7#5#9 puts a chord tone other than Db in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Db 7#5#9 belongs to.

In which keys

Db 7#5#9 is not diatonic to any major or minor key: at least one of its notes lies outside every one of them.

Scales that contain it

Db 7#5#9 fits inside these scales, each built on Db.

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Db 7#5#9: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

Db7#5Db · F · A · Cb
Db+add#9Db · F · A · E
DbaugDb · F · A
Db7no5Db · F · Cb
Dbm#5Db · Fb · A

Common substitutions

G7#5#9G · B · D# · F · A#
G7#5#9 shares the third and seventh of Db7#5#9 a tritone away, so it can replace it as a dominant.
Abm7Ab · Cb · Eb · Gb
Abm7 is the ii chord that leads into Db7#5#9 in a ii–V.

7#5#9 on every root

C7#5#9 D7#5#9 Eb7#5#9 F7#5#9 Gb7#5#9 G7#5#9 Ab7#5#9 A7#5#9 Bb7#5#9

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Understanding the Db 7#5#9 chord

Names and symbols

Db7#5#9 is the chord symbol for Db 7#5#9; it is also written Db7#9#5, Db7alt.

7♯5, +7 and aug7 usually all mean this chord: a dominant seventh on an augmented triad. Some books use aug7 for the major seventh on the augmented triad instead, so check which seventh a chart intends.

Common questions

What notes are in the Db 7#5#9 chord?: The Db 7#5#9 chord contains the notes Db · F · A · Cb · E: the root Db with the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9A stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Db, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Db 7#5#9 chord?: Measured from Db, the Db 7#5#9 chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 5A, 7m, 9A. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.
How do I play the Db 7#5#9 chord?: On guitar the most common Db 7#5#9 shape is x43200, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Db3 · F3 · A3 · Cb3 · E4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.