Chords in the Key of Ab Major

What are the chords in Ab major?

Take the Ab major scale — Ab Bb C Db Eb F G — and build a chord on each note by stacking every other scale note on top of it. Those seven chords are the chords in the key:

• Ab — I, major, built on Ab
• Bbm — ii, minor, built on Bb
• Cm — iii, minor, built on C
• Db — IV, major, built on Db
• Eb — V, major, built on Eb
• Fm — vi, minor, built on F
• Gdim — vii°, diminished, built on G

The pattern of qualities is the same in every major key — only the letters change. Learn the numerals and you can find the chords of any key in seconds.

Which chords to play first

Ab, Db and Eb — the I, IV and V — carry most songs in Ab major. Add Fm (the vi, the relative minor) and you have the four chords behind a large share of popular music.

• Pop Anthem — 1–5–6m–4 — Ab – Eb – Fm – Db. Heard in Let It Be (verse), Don't Stop Believin'.
• Rock / Country / Blues Backbone — 1–4–5 — Ab – Db – Eb. Heard in Wild Thing, Twist and Shout.
• 50s / Doo-Wop — 1–6m–4–5 — Ab – Fm – Db – Eb. Heard in Stand By Me, Earth Angel.
• Rhythm Changes Turnaround — 1–6m–2m–5 — Ab – Fm – Bbm – Eb. Heard in I Got Rhythm, Heart and Soul (original).

The same chords as 7ths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of Ab major: Abmaj7, Bbm7, Cm7, Dbmaj7, Eb7, Fm7, Gm7♭5. Same roots, same function, a jazz and soul colour. The V as a dominant seventh (Eb7) is the one that pulls hardest back to Ab.

Ab major and F minor share every chord

F minor uses the same seven notes as Ab major, so it has the same seven chords — the relative minor. What changes is which chord is home: Ab in Ab major, Fm in F minor. A song can drift between the two without changing a single chord shape.

• The chords of F minor, with their own numerals
• The Ab major scale on the neck

How to practice the chords of Ab major

1. Play Ab – Db – Eb – Ab slowly, one strum per chord, until the changes are clean.
2. Open the chord builder in this key and turn on Smooth Voice Leading — it re-fingers each change so your hand barely moves.
3. Then play the scale over the chords. Every note of Ab major fits every chord above, which is why the scale and the key are the same thing seen from two sides.