How to Play the D Major Scale on the Piano - Scales, Chords & Exercises

What Are the Notes of the D Major Scale?

The D Major scale starts on D and includes two sharp notes. It uses the notes D- E- F#-G-A-B-C#-D. On the piano, you need to play two black keys: F-sharp and C-sharp. For all of the other keys, you can use the white keys.

How to Play the D Major Scale With the Right Hand (Treble Clef)

On the piano, you can play the D Major Scale up (toward the higher notes), or coming down. In the treble clef:

• Play the following notes going up: D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D. Start playing with your first finger, and tuck your thumb after you have played the F#. As your hand will be positioned a little higher up anyway because you need to reach the black key, this tuck works quite comfortably. As you continue playing, you will play the C-sharp with your fourth finger.
• Play the following notes going down: D-C#-B-A-G-F#-E-D. Start playing with your fifth finger and play the full hand, then tuck your third finger over the thumb to play the F# and continue until your first finger reaches the D.

How to Play the D Major Scale With the Left Hand (Bass Clef)

Piano beginners may find it difficult to read and play the left hand in the bass clef. It is worth investing some time to really familiarize yourself with the notes of the D Major scale in the bass clef, and learn how to read them in music scores.

The notes are the same as in the right hand (D-E-F#-G-A-B-C#-D), but they look different in each clef:

How to play them

• Going up: Starting with your fifth finger (the pinkie) play the full hand, then tuck your third finger over the thumb to reach the B. As you continue, play the C-sharp with your second (index) finger.
• Coming down: Start with your first finger. After the first three notes, tuck your thumb under to reach the A, then play the full hand down to D.

The D Major Key Signature

The key signature, located at the beginning of each line of a piece, lets you see which notes will be raised (#) or lowered (b) consistently throughout that piece.

If you spot this key signature below, it is very likely that the piece is in D Major (or its parallel minor scale, B minor) :

6 Exercises to Practice the D Major Scale

Play one D-Major exercise after the other and only move on after having correctly played the previous exercise 5 times on your piano:

1. Play the left hand up and down using a metronome and slowly increasing speed
2. Play the right hand up and down using a metronome and slowly increasing speed
3. Play both hands up and down using a metronome and slowly increasing speed
4. Play the left hand up starting from the lowest D to the highest, and down starting from the highest D to the lowest
5. Play the right hand up starting from the lowest D to the highest, and down starting from the highest D to the lowest
6. Play both hands up starting with the left hand on the lowest D and stopping when the right hand reaches the highest D, then play down to the starting position

Why you should exercise scales in general:

• To memorize a scale
• To practice dexterity and intonation (play all keys with even loudness. Beginners often play the notes they work with their stronger fingers much harder. Aim for an even tone)
• To be able to play the scale in time without hesitating to find your fingerings
• To be able to build chords and improvise

D Major Chords on the Piano

A chord is constructed of three or more notes: The root note - the major third - the perfect fifth.

Briefly explained, for D Major this means:

• The basic D Major chord consists of D-F#-A.
• The first inversion is F#-A-D.
• The second inversion is A-D-F#.

To practice the D-Major chord and inversions, switch from the chord starting with the root note to the first, and the second inversion, starting slowly using a metronome, then increasing your tempo.