G♭ major
The major key on the tonic G♭. It has six flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭. On the piano it sounds exactly like F♯ major with six sharps. Which spelling you choose depends, according to the page on the circle of fifths, on the context.
- Tonic
- G♭
- Key signature
- 6 ♭ (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭)
- Tonic chord
- G♭–B♭–D♭
- Dominant
- D♭ major, D♭–F–A♭
- Relative key
- E♭ minor
- Enharmonically the same
- F♯ major
Six flats
On the page Circle of fifths G♭ major is listed with “6 ♭ (on B, E, A, D, G and C)”, in notes that is B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ and C♭. The page Key Signatures names the order of the flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭. The rule for the tonic is there as well: in flat keys the next-to-last flat is the tonic, with six flats therefore G♭.
G♭ major scale
Only F is a natural note, all the others carry a flat. C♭ is marked: it sounds like B, but is written C♭ so that every letter occurs once.
| Degree | G♭ major | F♯ major |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | G♭ | F♯ |
| 2 | A♭ | G♯ |
| 3 | B♭ | A♯ |
| 4 | C♭ | B |
| 5 | D♭ | C♯ |
| 6 | E♭ | D♯ |
| 7 | F | E♯ |
| Key signature | 6 ♭ | 6 ♯ |
G♭ major or F♯ major?
The Circle of Fifths page lists F♯ major (six sharps) and G♭ major (six flats) as one of three enharmonic pairs. On the exercise page for the circle of fifths it says: F♯ major and G♭ major are at the same place, but have six sharps and six flats respectively. Both are right, which one you write depends on the context. More under Enharmonic equivalence.
The exercise Build Chords warns of mixing: F♯ major consists of F♯, A♯ and C♯, not of F♯, B♭ and D♭. Correspondingly G♭ major consists of G♭, B♭ and D♭.
The chords
The diatonic chords arise as in every major key from two stacked thirds: the degrees I, IV and V carry major chords, in G♭ major G♭, C♭ and D♭, ii, iii and vi carry minor chords and the seventh a diminished triad. The derivation is on the page Diatonic chords.
Common mistakes
- Writing C♭ as B: In G♭ major the fourth note is called C♭, otherwise the letter B occurs twice.
- Mixing F♯ major and G♭ major: A key is written with sharps or with flats.
- Taking the last flat for the tonic: The tonic is the next-to-last flat.
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Related terms
F♯ majorD♭ majorEnharmonic equivalenceRelative keyMajorCircle of fifthsAccidentalKeyB♭ major
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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