D flat major
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| Relative key | B♭ minor | |
|---|---|---|
| Parallel key | C♯ minor | |
| 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 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, 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 preferrrable, 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 songs and pieces in this key
- 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
- 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
| 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
es:Re bemol mayor ja:変ニ長調 pl:Des-dur ru:Ре-бемоль мажор
[edit] External links
- D Flat Major - Free D Flat Major Scale Print Out with Arpeggios and Broken Chords for Piano with Fingering
