Minor scales · D sharp melodic minor
D♯ melodic minor scale
The D♯ melodic minor scale (D sharp melodic minor) is D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯ A♯ B♯ C𝄪 D♯ going up, D♯ C♯ B A♯ G♯ F♯ E♯ D♯ coming down. It uses the key signature of F♯ major, six sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯ and E♯), and raises the sixth and seventh notes on the way up only. Here it is for both hands with the standard fingering.
- 6 sharps: F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯
- Relative major: F♯ major
- RH 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3
- LH 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2
Listen with the cursor following the notes, or play along: the music waits for each note, and the keys show which finger to use.
The notes
D♯ minor has six sharps, the key signature of F♯ major, its relative major. It sounds the same as E♭ minor; most music in this key is written as E♭ minor.
| Degree | Going up | Coming down | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note | RH | LH | Note | RH | LH | |
| 1Tonic | D♯ | 3 | 2 | D♯ | 3 | 2 |
| 2Supertonic | E♯ | 1 | 1 | E♯ | 1 | 1 |
| 3Mediant | F♯ | 2 | 4 | F♯ | 2 | 4 |
| 4Subdominant | G♯ | 3 | 3 | G♯ | 3 | 3 |
| 5Dominant | A♯ | 4 | 2 | A♯ | 4 | 2 |
| 6Submediant | B♯ | 1 | 1 | B | 1 | 1 |
| 7Leading note | C𝄪 | 2 | 3 | C♯ | 2 | 3 |
| 8Tonic | D♯ | 3 | 2 | D♯ | 3 | 2 |
Key signature
D♯ minor has six sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯ and E♯) in its key signature, the same as F♯ major, its relative major. The melodic minor adds two accidentals going up, B♯ and C𝄪, and takes them back coming down.
What makes it melodic minor
The melodic minor raises the sixth and seventh notes going up, B to B♯ and C♯ to C𝄪, so it climbs smoothly to the tonic, without the harmonic minor’s gap. Going up, it differs from E♭ major only in its third note, F♯.
Coming down, it is the natural minor: C♯ and B again, written here with courtesy accidentals. (Jazz players use the ascending form both ways, and call it the jazz minor.)
Fingering
Right hand: 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 going up. Going up, the thumb passes under the third finger from D♯ to E♯ and the thumb passes under the fourth finger from A♯ to B♯. The fourth finger plays A♯: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is.
Left hand: 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 going up. Going up, the fourth finger crosses over the thumb from E♯ to F♯ and the third finger crosses over the thumb from B♯ to C𝄪. The fourth finger plays F♯: once per octave, a good landmark for where the hand is.
Played with the same fingers as E♭ minor: the right hand starts on its third finger, with the fourth on A♯; the left hand starts on its second finger and crosses its fourth onto F♯.
Chords in D♯ minor
The triads built on each note of the scale going up. Most music in a minor key mixes chords from all three forms; the ones below are the melodic minor’s.
- i D♯ minor
- ii E♯ minor
- III+ F♯ augmented
- IV G♯ major
- V A♯ major
- vi° B♯ diminished
- vii° C𝄪 diminished
Music in D♯ minor
- Scriabin’s Étude Op. 8 No. 12
- The Fugue in D♯ minor from Book 1 of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV 853)
How to practise it
- Hands separately first, slowly, saying the finger numbers. Fingering learned slowly stays; fingering found at speed changes every time.
- Practise the thumb crossings alone: play just the notes either side of each crossing, back and forth, until the thumb is in place before it’s needed.
- Then hands together, one octave, then two. The hands cross their thumbs at different places, which is what makes scales hands together hard at first.
- Use “Play along” above: it waits for each note, so you can check every note and finger at your own pace. Then Listen at ♩ = 72 and play with it.
Quick answers
- What are the notes of the D sharp melodic minor scale?
- D♯ E♯ F♯ G♯ A♯ B♯ C𝄪 D♯ going up, D♯ C♯ B A♯ G♯ F♯ E♯ D♯ coming down.
- What is the fingering for the D sharp melodic minor scale?
- Going up one octave from D♯: right hand 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3, left hand 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2. Coming down: right hand 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3, left hand 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2. 1 is the thumb.
- What key signature does D♯ minor have?
- Six sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯ and E♯), the same as its relative major, F♯ major.
Scales, then real music
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