CHORD REFERENCE

D♭sus2

D♭ – E♭ – A♭1 2 5

Also written C♯sus2 — the same pitches spelled the other way.

The D♭ Suspended 2nd chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
D♭1E♭2A♭5

D♭sus2 is Db, Eb, Ab — the 1, 2 and 5 above the root D♭.

Piano
D♭E♭A♭
Guitar

Ways to play it

A-shape barre — 4th fret
4fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eA♭D♭E♭BD♭E♭A♭GA♭D♭E♭DE♭A♭D♭AD♭E♭A♭EA♭D♭E♭

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

Movable shape
GCEA
357912AD♭E♭A♭EA♭D♭E♭CD♭E♭A♭GA♭D♭E♭

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only Db, Eb, Ab plays the chord.

In which keys

D♭sus2 is a colour chord — it is not diatonic to a plain major or minor key, which is what gives it its character. It shows up as a borrowed chord, an altered dominant, or a passing sound.

Other D♭ chords

Triads

D♭MajorD♭mMinorD♭5Power Chord (5)D♭dimDiminishedD♭augAugmentedD♭sus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

D♭6Major 6thD♭m6Minor 6thD♭7Dominant 7thD♭maj7Major 7thD♭m7Minor 7thD♭m(maj7)Minor–Major 7thD♭dim7Diminished 7thD♭m7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)D♭7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

D♭7♭57♭5D♭7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)D♭7♭97♭9D♭7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

D♭add9Added 9thD♭6/96/9D♭9Dominant 9thD♭maj9Major 9thD♭m9Minor 9thD♭11Dominant 11thD♭13Dominant 13th
Suspended 2nd on another root
CC♯D♭DE♭D♯EFF♯G♭GA♭G♯AB♭A♯B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.