Key signature · 5♭
D♭ major key signature and B♭ minor
D♭ major and its relative minor, B♭ minor, share a key signature of five flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭. C♯ major sounds exactly the same with seven sharps.
- Flats5
- WhichB♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭
- Relative minorB♭ minor
- Home chordD♭–F–A♭
The key signature
The flats come right after the clef, on every line of music. In the treble clef: B♭ on the middle line, E♭ on the top space, A♭ on the second space, D♭ on the fourth line and G♭ on the second line. In the bass clef the same flats appear, in the same order, on the bass staff’s B, E, A, D and G.
Each one changes that letter everywhere in the piece, in every octave and on both staves: in D♭ major, every B, E, A, D and G is flat, though no sign is written beside the note.
How to recognise it quickly
Look at the second-to-last flat: D♭. That’s the name of the major key, D♭ major. For the minor key, go down three half steps: B♭ minor.
Flats always come in the same order, so five flats are always B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭:
- B♭
- E♭
- A♭
- D♭
- G♭
- C♭
- F♭
Battle Ends And Down Goes Charles’ Father: the order of flats, the order of sharps backwards.
The D♭ major scale
D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭. On the piano that’s five black keys (D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭ and B♭) and two white (F and C). Its home chord is D♭–F–A♭.
More on this key: the D♭ major scale with fingering · the D♭ major chord
B♭ minor, the relative minor
B♭ minor uses the same five flats, starting from B♭, the sixth note of D♭ major: B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭. That’s the natural minor scale. Its home chord is B♭–D♭–F.
Pieces in B♭ minor usually raise the seventh note, A♭, to A (the harmonic minor), so it leads up to B♭. That A is written as an accidental, not in the key signature: the natural beside the note is often the quickest clue that a piece is in B♭ minor rather than D♭ major. Pieces also often begin or end on B♭ or its chord.
More on this key: B♭ minor natural minor · B♭ minor harmonic minor · the B♭ minor chord
Music in D♭ major and B♭ minor
Debussy’s Clair de lune, Chopin’s Minute Waltz and his Raindrop Prelude are all in D♭ major.
Chopin’s Piano Sonata No. 2, the one with the Funeral March, is in B♭ minor.
On the circle of fifths
One flat fewer is A♭ major, a fifth higher; one flat more is G♭ major, a fifth lower. Keys next to each other on the circle of fifths share all but one note, which is why music in D♭ major moves to them most easily. At this point the circle wraps round: D♭ major and C♯ major are the same keys on the piano, written with five flats or seven sharps.
Quiz: name the key signature
Ten key signatures in the treble or bass clef, from all fifteen. Choose the key, or play its home note on the piano below, a MIDI keyboard or your computer keys (any octave).
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Questions
How many flats are in D♭ major?
Five flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭. Every B, E, A, D and G in the piece is played flat, in every octave, unless an accidental says otherwise.
What is the relative minor of D♭ major?
B♭ minor. It shares the key signature (five flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭)) and starts on the sixth note of the D♭ major scale, three half steps below D♭.
What are the notes of the D♭ major scale?
D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C, D♭.
Which key has five flats?
D♭ major and its relative minor, B♭ minor. C♯ major (seven sharps) sounds the same, spelt differently.
How do you recognise the D♭ major key signature quickly?
Look at the second-to-last flat: D♭. That’s the name of the major key, D♭ major. For the minor key, go down three half steps: B♭ minor.
Keys, one at a time
Pianomi, a free sight-reading app for piano, brings in key signatures one at a time and notices when you play a note as if the key signature weren’t there.