D flat major scale, notes and fingering.

The D flat major scale is Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb and C, then Db again at the top. It has 5 flats in its key signature (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb), and five of its seven notes are black keys. Its relative minor is Bb minor. In steps it goes whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half, the same pattern as every major scale.

How to play D flat major on piano

1. Find Db. Db is the first black key of the group of two, the one just right of C.
2. Click Right hand and Two octaves. The circles on the keyboard show the finger for each note, starting with finger 2 on Db. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press Play scale to hear the scale go up and come back down. Up plays only the way up and Down only the way down. Change Speed if it is too quick.
4. Click Left hand. The left hand plays one octave lower and starts with finger 3 on Db.
5. Click One octave to see only the first eight notes, Db to Db, with the fingers for that run.
6. Under the keyboard, Play on a chord card plays the three-note chord built on that note, such as Db on Db and Ab on Ab.
7. Open Note names. Choose Sharps or Flats to see the black keys written the other way, for example Db as C#.

The notes, one by one

Worked example: the right hand starts on Db4 on this page. That key is 8 semitones below A4, so on a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz its frequency is 440 × 2^(-8/12), which is about 277.18 Hz. The top Db, one octave higher, doubles that to about 554.37 Hz. Counting the steps in between, 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 12 semitones. The fifth note, Ab, is 7 of them above the root.

Key signature of Db major

Db major has 5 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db and Gb. Flats are always added in the same order, B E A D G C F, so a signature with five flats uses the first five of them. Written once at the start of the staff, they apply to every B, E, A, D and G in the piece, in every octave.

To see why, go up from Db by whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. The notes that land on black keys are number 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of the seven, and they are written Db, Eb, Gb, Ab and Bb. Each letter name is used once in a scale, so the marks go on B, E, A, D and G, and the signature lists exactly those letters.

What is particular about Db major

Db major has five flats: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db and Gb. Its notes are Db, Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb and C, so the scale starts and ends on a black key and has only two white keys, F and C. Written as C# major it would need seven sharps, two more marks than the five flats of Db, so Db is the clearer way to write these keys. The thumb of the right hand lands on the two white keys.

Fingering for both hands

The usual teaching fingering for Db major in the right hand is 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 for the first octave, and for two octaves 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2. In the left hand it is 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 for the first octave, and for two octaves 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3. The right thumb lands on F and C and the left thumb on F and C; all of those are white keys. Coming down, use the same fingers in reverse order. Other fingerings exist, and a teacher may change them to suit your hand, so treat this as the standard starting point.

Chords in Db major

Stack every other note of the scale and you get a three-note chord on each degree. In every major key the pattern is the same: major on I, IV and V, minor on ii, iii and vi, and diminished on vii. In Db major that gives Db, Ebm, Fm, Gb, Ab, Bbm and Cdim. The three major chords, Db, Gb and Ab, are the ones that fit most simply together, for example in the order Db, Gb, Ab, Db.

A way to practise it

Start with the right hand: Db with finger 2, Eb with 3, then the thumb on F. The thumb sits on the white keys F and C, and the three black keys in the middle, Gb, Ab and Bb, are played by fingers 2, 3 and 4. Then add the left hand, which starts on finger 3 and puts its thumb on F and C as well.

A common slip

Putting the thumb on Db. The thumb belongs on the white keys, so the first note takes finger 2 in the right hand.

Nearby keys

The relative minor of Db major is Bb minor. It uses the same notes and the same key signature, starting on Bb. The parallel minor, Db minor, starts on the same note but has 8 flats in its key signature. Db major can also be written as C# major, with seven sharps, which uses the same keys on the piano.

The key a fifth higher is Ab major and the key a fifth lower is Gb major. Db major shares all but one note with each of them. Keys next to each other on the circle of fifths have signatures that differ by one mark. On this site the neighbours here are F sharp major and A flat major.

When the scale is steady, play it with the metronome and compare it with the virtual piano. For other scale types, such as minor, modes and pentatonic, use the scale finder.