D-flat minor

D-flat minor is a musical key based on D♭, consisting of the pitches D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B, and C♭. Because its key signature has eight flats, requiring one double flat and six single flats, the enharmonically equivalent key of C-sharp minor is normally used instead. Its relative major is F-flat major, which is usually replaced by E major. Its parallel major is D-flat major.

Relative keyF-flat major
→enharmonic: E major

Parallel keyD-flat major

Dominant keyA-flat minor

Subdominant keyG-flat minor
→enharmonic: F-sharp minor

Quick facts Relative key, Parallel key ...

D-flat minor

Alternative notation

Relative key	F-flat major →enharmonic: E major
Parallel key	D-flat major
Dominant key	A-flat minor
Subdominant key	G-flat minor →enharmonic: F-sharp minor
Enharmonic key	C-sharp minor
Component pitches
D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, A♭, B, C♭

Close

The D-flat natural minor scale is:

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D-flat harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

D-flat minor is usually notated as the enharmonic key of C-sharp minor, as in the second and third measures of Amy Beach's Canticle of the Sun.^[1] However, unusually, two of Verdi's most well-known operas, La traviata and Rigoletto, both end in D-flat minor (although written with the five-flat key signature of the parallel major). Mahler's thematic motif "der kleine Appell" ("call to order") from his Fourth and Fifth Symphonies uses both notations: in his Symphony No. 4 (first movement) it is in D-flat minor, but in his Symphony No. 5 it is in C-sharp minor. In the Adagio of his Symphony No. 9, a solo bassoon interpolation following the main theme appears first in D-flat minor, returning twice more notated in C-sharp minor. Likewise, in the Adagio of Bruckner's Symphony No. 8, phrases that are tonally in D-flat minor are notated as C-sharp minor.^[2][3][4][5]

D-flat minor is shown in Max Reger's theory text On the Theory of Modulation.^[6]