D major scale

The D major scale is D E F♯ G A B C♯ D. The key of D major has two sharps: F♯ and C♯. Its relative minor is B minor, which uses the same key signature.

D E F♯ G A B C♯ D

Key signature2 sharps
Relative minorB minor
Parallel minorD minor
StepsW W H W W W H

D major scale on the staff

Here is one octave of the D major scale going up, written with the key signature (two sharps: F♯ and C♯). Every note on those lines and spaces is played sharp or flat, so the notes themselves need no extra signs.

D major scale, up and back down.

The same scale written with accidentals instead of a key signature.

On the bass staff, two octaves lower.

D major scale on the piano

The keys of the D major scale. The pattern of whole (W) and half (H) steps is W W H W W W H.

Scale degrees

Degree	Note	Name	Solfege
1	D	tonic	do
2	E	supertonic	re
3	F♯	mediant	mi
4	G	subdominant	fa
5	A	dominant	sol
6	B	submediant	la
7	C♯	leading tone	ti

D major key signature

The key signature sits right after the clef at the start of every line. D major has two sharps: F♯ and C♯. They are written in the standard order, which is the same in every key with sharps.

Treble clef

Bass clef

Chords in the key of D major

Build a chord on each note of the scale using only notes from the scale and you get the chords of the key. The Roman numeral says which scale degree the chord sits on; capitals are major chords, lowercase are minor, and ° means diminished.

The seven chords of D major: D, Em, F♯m, G, A, Bm, C♯dim.

Numeral	Chord	Notes	Seventh chord
I	D	D F♯ A	Dmaj7 (Imaj7)
ii	Em	E G B	Em7 (ii7)
iii	F♯m	F♯ A C♯	F♯m7 (iii7)
IV	G	G B D	Gmaj7 (IVmaj7)
V	A	A C♯ E	A7 (V7)
vi	Bm	B D F♯	Bm7 (vi7)
vii°	C♯dim	C♯ E G	C♯m7♭5 (viiø7)

About the key of D major

D major has two sharps, F♯ and C♯. It is a bright, ringing key for violin, viola and cello because the open strings D and A (and G) sound along with the scale. Guitarists like it for the same reason. Orchestral composers often chose D major for festive, triumphant music. Its relative minor is B minor.

Well-known music in D major:

Canon in D (Pachelbel)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 (Beethoven)
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 (Tchaikovsky)

Check yourself

1. How many sharps are in the key of D major?

2. What is the 5th note (the dominant) of D major?

3. What is the relative minor of D major?