D flat major
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| Relative key | B♭ minor | |
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| Parallel key | D♭ minor enharmonic: C♯ minor |
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| Component pitches | ||
| D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C, D♭ | ||
D flat major is a major scale based on D flat, consisting of the pitches D flat, E flat, F, G flat, A flat, B flat, C, and D flat. The notes picked out in bold form the arpeggio of D flat major. Its key signature consists of five flats.
The flatted pitches correspond to the black keys of the piano. Its relative minor is B flat minor, and its parallel minor is D flat minor, usually replaced by C sharp minor, since D flat minor, which would contain 8 flats, is not used for practical composing and arranging. Thus, in his Prelude No. 15 in D flat major and Fantaisie-Impromptu, Frédéric Chopin switches to C sharp minor for the middle section.
D flat major is enharmonic to C sharp major. In music for the harp, D flat major would be preferrable, not only for the obvious reason that harp strings are more resonant in the flat position, but also because modulation to the dominant key is easier (by putting the G pedal in the natural position, whereas there is no double-sharp position in which to put the F pedal for G sharp major).
Hector Berlioz called this key "majestic" in his 1856 Grand Traité d'Instrumentation et d'Orchestration modernes, while having a much different opinion of its enharmonic counterpart.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is written in B flat minor, but the famous opening theme is in D flat major.
[edit] Well-known music in this key
- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, 18th variation - Sergei Rachmaninoff
- Music of the Night - Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Don't Cry for Me, Argentina - Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Memory - Andrew Lloyd Webber (partly in this key)
- Chariots of Fire (main theme) - Vangelis
- Dirty Work - Steely Dan
- Golden Brown - The Stranglers
- I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2
- Clair de Lune - Claude Debussy
- The Grand Illusion (song) - Styx
- Minute Waltz - Chopin
- Electric Boogie - Marcia Griffiths
- Jesus of Suburbia - Green Day (also in the key of A-flat major)
- Shine - Collective Soul
- Defying Gravity - Stephen Schwartz (from the musical Wicked)
- When I'm Sixty-Four - The Beatles
- Heat of the Moment - Asia
- I Just Called To Say I Love You - Stevie Wonder
- Consolation No. 3 - Liszt
- Nocturne in D flat major Opus 27 No. 2 - Chopin
- Everyday Is a Winding Road - Sheryl Crow
- You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling - The Righteous Brothers
- Colors of the Wind -Alan Menken from Disney's Pocahontas
- Video Killed the Radio Star - The Buggles
- Someone Saved My Life Tonight - Elton John
- Red, Red Wine - UB40
- Obviously - McFly
- Baby Girl - Sugarland
| Diatonic Scales and Keys | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| lower case letters are minor the table indicates the number of sharps or flats in each scale |
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[edit] External links
- D Flat Major - Free D Flat Major Scale Print Out with Arpeggios and Broken Chords for Piano with Fingering
