D♭ major pentatonic scale (C♯ major pentatonic)
D♭ major pentatonic scale is D♭ – E♭ – F – A♭ – B♭, with D♭, E♭, A♭ and B♭. Formula 1 2 3 5 6. Hit play and watch it light up on both instruments.
D♭ major pentatonic scale, note by note
From D♭ upward the gaps are W W W+H W W+H (W = whole step, H = half step, W+H = a step and a half). With no half steps, any two notes of it sound fine together. The wide steps are F–A♭ and B♭–D♭.
| Degree | Note | Interval from D♭ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | D♭ | root | |
| 2 | E♭ | major second | |
| 3 | F | major third | |
| 5 | A♭ | perfect fifth | |
| 6 | B♭ | major sixth |
How the major pentatonic scale sounds
Five notes, no half steps. D♭ major pentatonic sounds open and folk-like, and it fits over D♭, and over most of the chords in the key of D♭, without a wrong note.
Drop G♭ and C from D♭ major and this is what's left. The five notes spell D♭6 and D♭add9 at the same time, which is why it sounds so open.
D♭ major pentatonic scale is D♭ major scale without G♭ and C. Hear D♭ major scale and compare.
On piano and on guitar
D♭, E♭, A♭ and B♭ are on black keys; the rest are white.
On guitar the root sits at the 9th fret of the low E string. The box above covers frets 7–13 and holds 12 notes of the scale across all six strings; play it low string to high, two notes per string.
Chords to play under D♭ major pentatonic scale
These chords are built only from the scale's notes, so it sits over any of them: C♯, C♯sus2, C♯6, C♯add9, B♭m, B♭m7, E♭sus2, A♭sus2, E♭sus4, A♭sus4, B♭sus4.
If you know D♭ major pentatonic scale, you already know the notes of B♭ minor pentatonic (starting on the 5th note, B♭).
D♭ major pentatonic scale across the fretboard
The root, D♭, sits at fret 9 on the low E string and 4 on the A string. The five pentatonic boxes start on the low E string at frets 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11; each box overlaps the next, and together they cover the whole neck. With no half steps there are no clashing notes to avoid, which is why it is the first scale many guitarists improvise with.
On the piano, D♭ major pentatonic scale uses 4 black keys (D♭, E♭, A♭ and B♭) and 1 white.
A good drill once the scale is under your fingers: play it in thirds, skipping one note each time. Here that's D♭–F, E♭–A♭, F–B♭, A♭–D♭, B♭–E♭.
Three ways to practise D♭ major pentatonic
Once D♭ major pentatonic is comfortable up and down, break the order. Each pattern below uses only its 5 notes.
- Up in threes: D♭ E♭ F · E♭ F A♭ · F A♭ B♭ · A♭ B♭ D♭.
- Lean on B♭: D♭ B♭ D♭ B♭ D♭: the 6th keeps it sweet, with no half steps anywhere.
Close relatives of D♭ major pentatonic scale
Major pentatonic scale in every key
D♭ major pentatonic scale: questions
What are the notes of the D♭ major pentatonic scale?
D♭, E♭, F, A♭, B♭, D♭. As degrees: 1 2 3 5 6.
How many sharps or flats are in the D♭ major pentatonic scale?
Four: D♭, E♭, A♭ and B♭.
What's the difference between D♭ major pentatonic scale and D♭ major scale?
It leaves out G♭ and C.
What chords go with the D♭ major pentatonic scale?
Any chord built only from its notes, for example C♯, C♯sus2, C♯6, C♯add9, B♭m and B♭m7.
Generated from the step pattern 2-2-3-2-3 and checked by the site's tests. Updated September 2026.