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Tomus

Key reference

The key of D♭ major

5 flats · D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C

D♭ major has 5 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭. A piece in this key draws on D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C and treats D♭ as home.

The seven chords below are the ones built from those notes alone, which is why they sound like they belong together.

The key signature

𝄞♭♭♭♭♭
The key signature of D♭ major: B, E, A, D, G.

Order of flats

  1. B♭
  2. E♭
  3. A♭
  4. D♭
  5. G♭
  6. C♭
  7. F♭

This signature uses the first 5 of them: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭.

The notes of the key

These are the notes of the major scale on this tonic. See the D♭ major scale for the degrees and step pattern.

D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C

The seven diatonic chords

Build a triad on each degree using only notes from the key and the qualities fall into a fixed pattern. That pattern is the same in every major key, which is why progressions transpose so cleanly.

DegreeRomanChordNotesFunction
1ID♭D♭ – F – A♭Tonic
2iiE♭mE♭ – G♭ – B♭Predominant
3iiiFmF – A♭ – CTonic
4IVG♭G♭ – B♭ – D♭Predominant
5VA♭A♭ – C – E♭Dominant
6viB♭mB♭ – D♭ – FTonic
7vii°CdimC – E♭ – G♭Dominant

Adding sevenths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of the key.

RomanChordNotes
ID♭maj7D♭ – F – A♭ – C
iiE♭m7E♭ – G♭ – B♭ – D♭
iiiFm7F – A♭ – C – E♭
IVG♭maj7G♭ – B♭ – D♭ – F
V7A♭7A♭ – C – E♭ – G♭
viB♭m7B♭ – D♭ – F – A♭
vii°Cm7♭5C – E♭ – G♭ – B♭

Common progressions in D♭ major

These are the same shapes you meet in every major key, written with this key’s chords.

I – V – vi – IV

  1. D♭ITonic
  2. A♭VDominant
  3. B♭mviTonic
  4. G♭IVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

  1. D♭ITonic
  2. B♭mviTonic
  3. G♭IVPredominant
  4. A♭VDominant

ii – V – I

  1. E♭miiPredominant
  2. A♭VDominant
  3. D♭ITonic

Related keys

RelationshipKeySignature
Relative minorB♭ minorSame signature
One step sharpwardsA♭ majorOne more sharp
One step flatwardsG♭ majorOne more flat
Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.

Related

All major keys