D flat major
 |
|
| Relative key |
B♭ minor enharmonic: A♯ minor |
|---|---|
| Parallel key |
D♭ minor enharmonic: C♯ minor |
| Dominant key | A♭ major |
| Subdominant |
G♭ major enharmonic: F♯ major |
| Enharmonic | C♯ major |
| 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♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭ and C. Its key signature has five flats.
Its relative minor is B♭ minor. Its parallel minor, D♭ minor, is usually replaced by C♯ minor, since D♭ minor features a B
in its key signature and C♯ minor only has four sharps, making it rare for D♭ minor to be used. C♯ major, with seven sharps, has a similar problem. Therefore, D♭ major is often used as the parallel major for C♯ minor. The same enharmonic situation occurs with the keys of A♭ major and G♯ minor, with A♭ minor having seven flats and G♯ major having eight sharps, including the F
. For example, in his Prelude No. 15 in D-flat major ("Raindrop"), Frédéric Chopin switches from D-flat major to C-sharp minor for the middle section in the parallel minor, while in his Fantaisie-Impromptu, primarily in C-sharp minor, he switches to D-flat major for the middle section for the opposite reason. Ferdinand Ries' third concerto likewise switches to D-flat major for a while for the return of the second theme in the first movement. Claude Debussy also switches from D-flat major to C-sharp minor in the significant section in his famous Clair de lune. Antonín Dvořák's New World Symphony likewise switches to C-sharp minor for a while for the significant section in the slow movement.
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