D♭ Dorian Mode

Notes in the D♭ Dorian Mode

Interval Pattern

Chords Built on Scale Degrees

Key Signature

5 ♭ — The D♭ key signature uses B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭.

D♭ Dorian Mode in Practice

The D♭ Dorian Mode uses the key signature of 5 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭). Db major has five flats and is enharmonically equivalent to C# major. It has a warm, veiled quality and appears in Romantic piano literature and jazz compositions. On guitar, D♭ positions offer comfortable transposing instrument keys for this scale.

The Dorian mode is a minor scale with a raised 6th degree, giving it a slightly brighter quality than natural minor. It is the characteristic sound of jazz and Celtic music. When played starting on D♭, the 7 notes are D♭, E♭, E, G♭, A♭, B♭, B. In this key the signature has 5 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭). Db major uses all five black keys of the piano, placing the hand naturally on the raised keys and creating a legato, connected feel. Modern R&B and neo-soul producers often write in Db because keyboard players find the five-flat hand position physically comfortable for extended improvisations.

Tuning Frequencies Across Temperaments

Frequencies shown at A=440 Hz. View full temperament data for any note.

Related Scales

Transposing Instruments: D♭ Dorian Mode

D♭ is a natural key for B♭ instruments (trumpet, clarinet, tenor sax), which sound a major second lower than written. B♭ instruments reading in C produce D♭ concert pitch. E♭ instruments (alto sax, baritone sax) reading in D♭ sound a major sixth lower.