D-sharp minor
D-sharp minor is a minor scale based on D♯, consisting of the pitches D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, B, and C♯. Its key signature has six sharps.
 | |
| Relative key | F-sharp major enharmonic: G-flat major |
|---|---|
| Parallel key | D-sharp major enharmonic: E-flat major |
| Dominant key | A-sharp minor enharmonic: B-flat minor |
| Subdominant | G-sharp minor |
| Enharmonic | E-flat minor |
| Component pitches | |
| D♯, E♯, F♯, G♯, A♯, B, C♯ | |
Its relative major is F-sharp major (or enharmonically G-flat major), and its parallel major is D-sharp major, usually replaced by E-flat major, since D-sharp major's two double-sharps makes it generally impractical to use. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-flat minor, contains the same number of flats.
The D-sharp natural minor scale is:
Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The D-sharp harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:
Music in D-sharp minor
D-sharp minor is infrequently used as the principal key of pieces in the Classical era. More common is notation in E-flat minor, which is a relatively manageable key for many brass instruments and woodwinds.
The most famous work in this key is Scriabin's Etude Op. 8, No. 12.
From Bach's Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, the eighth fugue from Book 1 and the eighth prelude and fugue from Book 2 are in D-sharp minor; both fugues end with a Picardy third, requiring an F
in the final D-sharp major chord.
The second movement from Charles-Valentin Alkan's Grande sonate 'Les quatre âges', subtitled Quasi-Faust, is also in D-sharp minor (but ends in F-sharp major), and modulates into even sharper keys along the way, some even being theoretical keys, such as G-sharp major and E-sharp major.
In a few scores, 6-sharp key signatures in the bass clef are written with the sharp for the A on the top line.
Despite the key rarely being used in orchestral music other than to modulate, it is not entirely uncommon in keyboard music. For orchestration of piano music, some theorists recommend transposing the music to D minor or E minor. If D-sharp minor must absolutely be used, one should take care that B♭ wind instruments be notated in F minor, rather than E-sharp minor (or G instruments used instead, giving a transposed key of G-sharp minor), and B♮ instruments in E minor, in order to avoid double sharps in key signatures. Meanwhile, the E horns would have parts written with a B minor key signature.
