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Guitar scale

Ab major scale (G# major)

The Ab major scale is the bright, resolved sound at the centre of Western music, and the reference every other scale is measured against. Best for melody, songwriting, everything else.

By Chiye · Updated · Counts from the 104 song sheets on openguitarchords.com

Root
Ab
Notes
AbBbCDbEbFG
Formula
W-W-H-W-W-W-H
Relative key
F natural minor
Learning path
Step 2 of 5
123456789101112131415EADGBeFGAbBbCDbEbFGBbCDbEbFGAbBbCEbFGAbBbCDbEbFGAbBbCDbEbFGAbBbCDbEbFGAbBbCDbFGAbBbCDbEbFG
All 15 frets, high e string on top. Orange marks an Ab root, the box is the one position to start with, and fret 0 is an open string.
Print or save the Ab major chart
Ab major scale chart: every note from fret 0 to 15 across all six strings, root notes marked in orange

940 × 230 px version of the chart above, sized for a phone screen or a printed handout. Tap the image to save it.

The Ab major scale is the seven notes Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F and G. Read as scale degrees from Ab, that is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Every note is a fixed distance from the one before it: W-W-H-W-W-W-H, where W is a whole step (2 frets) and H is a half step (1 fret). That pattern is the whole scale. Move it so the root lands on a different note and you are playing that key's major scale. The scale supplies the chords of its key: Ab (I), Bbm (ii), Cm (iii), Db (IV), Eb (V), Fm (vi), Gdim (vii°). Its relative key is F natural minor, which uses exactly the same notes. What changes is the note that feels like home. On the guitar this is not one shape but overlapping positions: the lowest Ab sits at fret 1 on the G string. 5 of the 104 song sheets charted here are in Ab.

Start here: one Ab major position

The notes inside frets 1 to 5 sit in the highlighted box above. The diagram below isolates that position and numbers the run to play. Learn this box first; other positions contain the same scale notes with different fingerings.

Play the box in this order

12345EADGBeFGAbBbCCDbEbFGAb1234567
Numbers 1 to 7 are the playing order, one note at a time. Letters are the other Ab major notes in this position; orange letters are roots.

Ab 1 → Bb 2 → C 3 → Db 4 → Eb 5 → F 6 → G 7

Plays exactly the run numbered above, one note at a time.

Every Ab on the neck

low Efret 4
Afret 11
Dfret 6
Gfret 1
Bfret 9
high Efret 4

What notes are in the Ab major scale?

  1. Ab1Root
  2. W
  3. Bb2Major 2nd
  4. W
  5. C3Major 3rd
  6. H
  7. Db4Perfect 4th
  8. W
  9. Eb5Perfect 5th
  10. W
  11. F6Major 6th
  12. W
  13. G7Major 7th
  14. H
  15. Ab1octave

W whole step (2 frets), H half step (1 fret). The same pattern from any other root gives that key's major scale.

Chords in the key of Ab major

Every chord below is built from the notes of this scale, so a song in Ab major uses almost nothing else. Together they account for 13 chord changes in the library, counted, not estimated.

Iunused hereAbAb C Ebiiunused hereBbmBb Db Fiii9 usesCmC Eb GIVunused hereDbDb F AbV1 usesEbEb G Bbvi3 usesFmF Ab Cvii°unused hereGdim all rootsG Bb Db

How to practise the Ab major scale

  1. Frets 1 to 5, slowly. The position above, up and back, naming every note out loud. Naming is what turns a shape into a scale.
  2. Then find the next Ab: D string, fret 6. Use the full neck diagram to find the scale notes around that root. Play root to root at 60 BPM, one note per beat; fingerings change when you move to a different string set.
  3. Then stop counting. Pick a song in Ab from the list below and improvise on these notes for two minutes. That is what the scale is for.

Songs in Ab on this site

5 of the 104 song sheets charted here are in Ab. Play this scale over any of them and every note lands inside the key.

AbNight ChangesOne DirectionAbPerfectEd SheeranAbAll of Me (John Legend)John LegendAbGood Riddance (Time of Your Life)Green DayAbSloop John BThe Beach BoysAllEvery song sheet
What the library actually plays in Ab majorCounted from the progressions written out in the song sheets charted here, not derived from theory. Only three-chord runs that stay inside the Ab major scale are shown.
Run #1
Fm → C → Cplayed 4 times
Run #2
Eb → Bb → Fplayed 2 times

Ab major scale: common questions

What notes are in the Ab major scale?
The Ab major scale is Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F and G. Counting from the root Ab, the degrees are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
What is the formula for the Ab major scale?
The step pattern is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Read left to right from Ab: whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret), then whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret). Apply the same pattern from any other note and you get that note's major scale.
What chords are in the key of Ab major?
The seven diatonic chords are Ab (I), Bbm (ii), Cm (iii), Db (IV), Eb (V), Fm (vi), Gdim (vii°). Across the 104 song sheets on this site those chords appear 13 times in total.
Is the Ab major scale the same as F natural minor?
Yes. Ab major and F natural minor contain exactly the same notes: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F and G. They are relative keys. Centre the melody on Ab and it sounds like Ab major; centre it on F and the same notes sound like F natural minor.
What is the easiest fingering for the Ab major scale?
The position above starts on the low E string at fret 4 and stays inside frets 1 to 5: Ab at fret 4 on the low E, then Bb at fret 1 on the A, then C at fret 3 on the A, then Db at fret 4 on the A, then Eb at fret 1 on the D, then F at fret 3 on the D, then G at fret 5 on the D. Everything else on the neck is the same notes repeated in other positions.
How do I practise the Ab major scale?
Play frets 1 to 5 up and back, naming each note. Then locate Ab at fret 6 on the D string. Use the neck diagram to learn that position, rather than copying the same grip across strings. Practise at 60 BPM.

More Ab scales

Ab natural minorAb major pentatonicAb minor pentatonicAb blues

This scale in other keys

C majorC# majorD majorEb majorE majorF majorF# majorG majorAll 60 scale charts
Previous keyG bluesNext keyAb natural minor