D♭ augmented chord
Two major thirds stacked, D♭, F and A, and a chord that never sounds finished.
- How it sounds
- Bright but unsettled. Both gaps are four frets, D♭ to F and F to A, which splits the octave into three equal parts. Move any grip up four frets and the same three notes come back. There’s no open grip. The lowest of its four grips is the C form, at the 1st fret.
- Where it lives
- The III+ of B♭ harmonic minor and B♭ melodic minor, and no major key has it. Its notes are four frets apart all the way round, so the same chord is the III+ of D harmonic minor and F♯ harmonic minor too, spelled from another of its notes. Songs in a major key borrow it to pass from I to IV, or from I to vi. Jazz, show tunes and pop ballads, mostly as a passing chord.
Voicings across the neck
D♭, F and A are shown in four places on the neck. Each grip is a major chord shape, E, A, C or D, with its fifth raised a fret, moved so its root lands on D♭. The E form at the 9th fret is the only one that uses all six strings, and the D form at the 11th uses only the top four.
- High E string: F at fret 1
- B string: D♭ at fret 2
- G string: A at fret 2
- D string: F at fret 3
- A string: D♭ at fret 4
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: A at fret 5
- B string: F at fret 6
- G string: D♭ at fret 6
- D string: A at fret 7
- A string: D♭ at fret 4
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: D♭ at fret 9
- B string: A at fret 10
- G string: F at fret 10
- D string: D♭ at fret 11
- A string: A at fret 12
- Low E string: D♭ at fret 9
- High E string: F at fret 13
- B string: D♭ at fret 14
- G string: A at fret 14
- D string: D♭ at fret 11
- A string: not played
- Low E string: not played
Formula
| Intervals | Notes | Semitones |
|---|---|---|
| R · M3 · A5: what each interval does in a chord | D♭ · F · A | 4 + 4 |
D♭ augmented is a root, a major third and an augmented fifth: D♭, F and A. Four then four is what makes it augmented, two major thirds stacked, so the fifth lands a fret above a perfect one. Lower A a fret to A♭ and you’re back at D♭ major.
In these keys and scales
D♭ augmented turns up in six scales on the site, and it’s the III+ in every one: B♭, D and F♯ harmonic minor, and the melodic minors on the same three roots. Those three keys are four frets apart, like the chord’s own notes, and each spells it from a different note: D♭aug in B♭, Faug in D and Aaug in F♯. No major or natural minor scale has it, since neither stacks two major thirds on any of its notes. The numeral beside each scale names the job, and the name opens that scale’s page.
| Family | Scales |
|---|---|
| Harmonic minor | |
| Melodic minor |
Progressions
D♭aug is on its way somewhere in all three, and it gets there by moving one note a fret at a time. In I–I+–IV, D♭’s fifth, A♭, rises to A and then to B♭, which is in G♭. I–I+–vi makes the same climb and lands on B♭m. In V+–I, A rises a fret to B♭, the third of G♭.