A flat major: scale and chords

The A flat major scale and key signature

A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G

Key signature: four flats, always written in the order B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ (flats are added B E A D G C F). In any key with two or more flats the second-to-last flat names the major key: here A♭. The same four flats also mean F minor.

On the treble staff the flats sit on the middle line (B♭), in the top space (E♭), in the second space (A♭) and on the fourth line (D♭). On the bass clef: the second line (B♭), the third space (E♭), the bottom space (A♭) and the middle line (D♭). Written on the bass clef, the scale runs from A♭2 in the bottom space to A♭3 on the top line.

On a piano that is four black keys (A♭ B♭ D♭ E♭) and three white ones (C F G). Whole and half steps: W W H W W W H, two halves of W W H joined by a whole step: A♭ B♭ C D♭, then E♭ F G A♭. The degrees by name: tonic A♭, supertonic B♭, mediant C, subdominant D♭, dominant E♭, submediant F, leading tone G.

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: A♭4 415.3 · B♭4 466.2 · C5 523.3 · D♭5 554.4 · E♭5 622.3 · F5 698.5 · G5 784.0

Play the scale

G♯ major scale on piano · A♭ major scale on piano

The A flat major chord (A♭) on guitar and piano

A♭ C E♭

The A flat major triad is A♭, C and E♭: the keynote, a major third above it (four semitones) and the fifth (three more). It's the chord a song in this key comes home to, the I in the table below.

Guitar: 4 6 6 5 4 4 (low E to high E, x = not played). A barre: the index finger flat across the 4th fret, the A and D strings at the 6th fret, G at the 5th. It's the open E shape moved up 4 frets.

Easier shapes: x x 6 5 4 4, the top four strings only, no full barre. Near the nut: x x 1 1 1 4, the index finger across the 1st fret of D, G and B and the little finger on the 4th fret of high E (E♭ in the bass). Or a capo on the 1st fret: the open G, C, D and Em shapes then sound as A♭, D♭, E♭ and Fm.

Ukulele: 5 3 4 3 (G C E A).

Piano: A♭ (black), C (white) and E♭ (black). Right hand fingers 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1. First inversion C E♭ A♭, second inversion E♭ A♭ C: the same chord with another of its notes at the bottom.

Play A♭

Chords in A flat major

Tap a chord to hear it.

On guitar, the seven in common shapes: A♭ 4 6 6 5 4 4 · B♭m x 1 3 3 2 1 · Cm x 3 5 5 4 3 · D♭ x 4 6 6 6 4 · E♭ x x 1 3 4 3 · Fm 1 3 3 1 1 1 · G° 3 4 5 3 x x.

Sevenths. A♭ major 7 (A♭maj7) is A♭ C E♭ G, the major seventh G on top of the triad: on guitar 4 x 5 5 4 x, or the barre 4 6 5 5 4 4. A♭7 is a different chord: G♭ instead of G, 4 6 4 5 4 4, the dominant seventh that leads into D♭ major. Inside the key the dominant seventh is E♭7 (E♭ G B♭ D♭, x 6 8 6 8 6), the chord that pulls back to A♭.

The loop plays I–V–vi–IV: A♭ E♭ Fm D♭.

A flat major's relative minor (F minor) and G♯ major

F minor uses the same seven notes and the same four flats: it starts on A♭ major's sixth note, F, three semitones below A♭. Which of the two a song is in depends on where it comes to rest. Music that settles on the A♭ chord and reaches it through E♭ or E♭7 is in A♭ major. Music that settles on Fm and keeps bringing in E natural, in a C or C7 chord, is in F minor. Songs move between them: "Let It Go" from Frozen (2013) sings its verses over F minor and its chorus in A♭ major.

The same piano keys spelled with sharps make G♯ major: G♯ A♯ B♯ C♯ D♯ E♯ F𝄪, six sharps and a double sharp. It sounds identical and almost never appears as a key signature. Its chords are the same, spelled G♯, A♯m, B♯m, C♯, D♯, E♯m and F𝄪°, so the loop's I–V–vi–IV reads G♯ D♯ E♯m C♯. The parallel minor, A♭ minor, needs seven flats and is usually written as G♯ minor (five sharps); its relative major, C♭ major (seven flats), is usually written as B major.

Progressions in A♭ major

• I–V–vi–IV A♭ E♭ Fm D♭: the loop above. These are the "four chords" of countless pop songs, and the progression people mean when they call one overused.
• I–IV–V A♭ D♭ E♭: the three major chords of the key, enough for most folk and blues forms.
• I–vi–IV–V A♭ Fm D♭ E♭: the 1950s ballad turn.
• ii–V–I B♭m7 E♭7 A♭maj7: the cadence of jazz standards.

Chords from outside the key that work

Three borrowed chords turn up in A♭ songs again and again. D♭m (D♭ F♭ A♭, the F♭ being the white key E), the minor iv from A♭ minor, after D♭ near the end of a ballad: A♭ D♭ D♭m A♭. G♭, the ♭VII, for a rock turn back home: A♭ G♭ D♭ A♭. And C7, the dominant of F minor, which leads into the vi chord: A♭ C7 Fm.

The A flat major scale on piano, guitar and clarinet

Piano fingering, one octave up: right hand 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3, the thumb on C and F; left hand 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3, the thumb on C and G. Reverse the fingers coming down. The thumbs only ever land on white keys, which is why four flats feel easier under the hand than they look on paper.

Guitar: two octaves in one position, from A♭ on the 4th fret of the low E string, frets 3 to 6.

Clarinet, sax, trumpet, horn. To play in concert A♭ major with a piano, a B♭ clarinet, trumpet or tenor sax reads B♭ major (two flats), an alto sax F major (one flat), a horn in F E♭ major (three flats). The other way round: the A♭ major scale written for a B♭ clarinet sounds G♭ major.

What plays

Drums, an organ bass and a pluck, the Brumm app's own sounds, four bars at 123 BPM, one chord per bar. The arrows move bass and chords a semitone; the drums stay.

Music in A flat major

Chopin used the key for some of his most played pieces. The Waltz Op. 69 No. 1, "L'adieu", was written in 1835 for Maria Wodzińska and published only after his death, in 1855. The Impromptu No. 1 Op. 29 (1837), the "Heroic" Polonaise Op. 53 and the Étude Op. 25 No. 1 are in A♭ too. Beethoven put the slow movement of several of his C minor works in A♭, the "Pathétique" Sonata Op. 13 and the Fifth Symphony among them. Also in A♭: Schubert's Impromptu D 899 No. 4, Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3, Brahms's Waltz Op. 39 No. 15 and Scott Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899). In pop: Coldplay's "Viva la Vida" (2008), John Legend's "All of Me" (2013) and Ed Sheeran's "Perfect" (2017). Among the songs analysed in Hooktheory's database, A♭ is the least used of the twelve major keys (as of 2026).

Keys that mix with A♭ major

On the Camelot wheel A♭ major is 4B (Open Key 9d). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 4A F minor relative minor, the same seven notes
• 3B D♭ major one step down: the subdominant key
• 5B E♭ major one step up: the dominant key
• 6B B♭ major two steps up, the energy boost

Same keynote, the other mode: G♯ minor (1A), three notes apart.

Where A♭ major sits

Choir parts (soprano C4–G5, alto G3–D5, tenor C3–G4, bass F2–D4, where two part-writing guides agree): A♭3–A♭4 fits the alto part; A♭2–A♭3 fits the bass part; no whole A♭-to-A♭ octave fits the soprano or tenor parts. Find your own range.

As a sub or an 808, the keynote is A♭1 at 51.9 Hz, or A♭2 at 103.8 Hz an octave up. Tune an 808 to A♭.

Then hum over it

The hum button opens Brumm with a short line in the key over a beat. Hum yours and it becomes an instrument. No account, no upload.

Sources

Scales and chords: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Camelot, Open Key: Mixed In Key, Mixgraph. Open strings: Wikipedia. Choir parts: Open Music Theory, Geneseo. Guitar shapes: Wikipedia, Barre chord. Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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