Ab major the chords in the key
- Scale
- Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
- Key signature
- four flats: Bb Eb Ab Db
- Relative minor
- F minor
The seven chords
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Ab | Ab C Eb | |
| ii | Bbm | Bb Db F | |
| iii | Cm | C Eb G | |
| IV | Db | Db F Ab | |
| V | Eb | Eb G Bb | |
| vi | Fm | F Ab C | |
| vii° | Gdim | G Bb Db |
Seventh chords
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imaj7 | Abmaj7 | Ab C Eb G | |
| ii7 | Bbm7 | Bb Db F Ab | |
| iii7 | Cm7 | C Eb G Bb | |
| IVmaj7 | Dbmaj7 | Db F Ab C | |
| V7 | Eb7 | Eb G Bb Db | |
| vi7 | Fm7 | F Ab C Eb | |
| viiø7 | Gm7b5 | G Bb Db F |
Common progressions in Ab major
- I–V–vi–IV the four-chord pop loop
- I–IV–V three-chord rock, folk and country
- ii–V–I the jazz cadence, in sevenths
- vi–IV–I–V the same four chords starting on the minor one
- 12-bar blues one chord per bar; every chord a dominant 7, which the major scale alone does not give
On guitar
Capo 1. With a capo on fret 1, play the open shapes G for Ab, C for Db, D for Eb, Em for Fm: they sound as the I, IV, V and vi (Ab, Db, Eb and Fm).
How the chords of Ab major work
Ab major uses the notes Ab Bb C Db Eb F G, four flats: Bb Eb Ab Db. Stack every other note of that scale on each degree and you get the seven chords above: three major (Ab, Db and Eb: I, IV and V), three minor (Bbm, Cm and Fm: ii, iii and vi) and one diminished (Gdim, vii°). Most songs in Ab lean on Ab, Db and Eb, with Fm as the fourth chord.
The V7, Eb7 (Eb G Bb Db), is the chord that sounds like it wants to come home: its G rises a semitone to Ab and its Db falls a semitone to C. A song that ends Eb7 to Ab is almost certainly in Ab major.
Fm is also the home chord of F minor, the relative minor: it uses exactly the same seven notes and the same seven chords. So a chord list from this page can be in either key; it is usually in the one whose home chord it starts or ends on.
Have a list of chords and not sure of the key? The key finder scores it against all 24 keys and can transpose it.
What this page cannot do
- Only major and minor keys. Dorian, Mixolydian and the other modes are not covered: a song in D Mixolydian (D, C, G) uses the chords of G major and will look like G major here.
- Finding a key from chord names is a best fit, not a certainty. A chord list cannot tell a key from its relative minor, which shares every chord; the melody and where the song comes to rest decide it.
- Songs change key. A bridge or a last chorus a step higher is a new key, with its own page.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, each chord in root position, not a recorded piano or guitar.