Key reference

The key of D major

2 sharps · D – E – F♯ – G – A – B – C♯

D major has 2 sharps: F♯, C♯. 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: F, C.

Order of sharps

F♯
C♯
G♯
D♯
A♯
E♯
B♯

This signature uses the first 2 of them: F♯, C♯.

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.

Degree	Roman	Chord	Notes	Function
1	I	D	D – F♯ – A	Tonic
2	ii	Em	E – G – B	Predominant
3	iii	F♯m	F♯ – A – C♯	Tonic
4	IV	G	G – B – D	Predominant
5	V	A	A – C♯ – E	Dominant
6	vi	Bm	B – D – F♯	Tonic
7	vii°	C♯dim	C♯ – E – G	Dominant

Adding sevenths

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

Roman	Chord	Notes
I	Dmaj7	D – F♯ – A – C♯
ii	Em7	E – G – B – D
iii	F♯m7	F♯ – A – C♯ – E
IV	Gmaj7	G – B – D – F♯
V7	A7	A – C♯ – E – G
vi	Bm7	B – D – F♯ – A
vii°	C♯m7♭5	C♯ – 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

DITonic
AVDominant
BmviTonic
GIVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

DITonic
BmviTonic
GIVPredominant
AVDominant

ii – V – I

EmiiPredominant
AVDominant
DITonic

Related keys

Relationship	Key	Signature
Relative minor	B minor	Same signature
Parallel minor	D minor	1 flats
One step sharpwards	A major	One more sharp
One step flatwards	G major	One more flat

Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.