Db major the chords in the key
- Scale
- Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C
- Key signature
- five flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
- Relative minor
- Bb minor
- Also written
- C# major (seven sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#): the same sounds, spelled from C#
The seven chords
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Db | Db F Ab | |
| ii | Ebm | Eb Gb Bb | |
| iii | Fm | F Ab C | |
| IV | Gb (same notes, spelled F# on its chord page) | Gb Bb Db | |
| V | Ab | Ab C Eb | |
| vi | Bbm | Bb Db F | |
| vii° | Cdim | C Eb Gb |
Seventh chords
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imaj7 | Dbmaj7 | Db F Ab C | |
| ii7 | Ebm7 | Eb Gb Bb Db | |
| iii7 | Fm7 | F Ab C Eb | |
| IVmaj7 | Gbmaj7 | Gb Bb Db F | |
| V7 | Ab7 | Ab C Eb Gb | |
| vi7 | Bbm7 | Bb Db F Ab | |
| viiø7 | Cm7b5 | C Eb Gb Bb |
Common progressions in Db major
- I–V–vi–IV the four-chord pop loop(same notes on the chord pages: Gb is spelled F#)
- I–IV–V three-chord rock, folk and country(same notes on the chord pages: Gb is spelled F#)
- ii–V–I the jazz cadence, in sevenths
- vi–IV–I–V the same four chords starting on the minor one(same notes on the chord pages: Gb is spelled F#)
- 12-bar blues one chord per bar; every chord a dominant 7, which the major scale alone does not give(same notes on the chord pages: Gb7 is spelled F#7)
On guitar
Capo 6. With a capo on fret 6, play the open shapes G for Db, C for Gb, D for Ab, Em for Bbm: they sound as the I, IV, V and vi (Db, Gb, Ab and Bbm).
How the chords of Db major work
Db major uses the notes Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C, five flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb. Stack every other note of that scale on each degree and you get the seven chords above: three major (Db, Gb and Ab: I, IV and V), three minor (Ebm, Fm and Bbm: ii, iii and vi) and one diminished (Cdim, vii°). Most songs in Db lean on Db, Gb and Ab, with Bbm as the fourth chord.
The V7, Ab7 (Ab C Eb Gb), is the chord that sounds like it wants to come home: its C rises a semitone to Db and its Gb falls a semitone to F. A song that ends Ab7 to Db is almost certainly in Db major.
Bbm is also the home chord of Bb minor, the relative minor: it uses exactly the same seven notes and the same seven chords. So a chord list from this page can be in either key; it is usually in the one whose home chord it starts or ends on.
Have a list of chords and not sure of the key? The key finder scores it against all 24 keys and can transpose it.
What this page cannot do
- Only major and minor keys. Dorian, Mixolydian and the other modes are not covered: a song in D Mixolydian (D, C, G) uses the chords of G major and will look like G major here.
- Finding a key from chord names is a best fit, not a certainty. A chord list cannot tell a key from its relative minor, which shares every chord; the melody and where the song comes to rest decide it.
- Songs change key. A bridge or a last chorus a step higher is a new key, with its own page.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, each chord in root position, not a recorded piano or guitar.