A♭ Major: Notes, Chords and Scale
A♭ major is a major key. Its key signature has 4 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭. Its scale is A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G, and its seven diatonic chords are A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭, Fm, Gdim. Below are the 7th chords, Roman numerals, related keys, the Camelot code and a keyboard diagram.
Key signature
4♭
Relative key
Parallel key
Camelot code
4B
Notes
A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G
Chords in A♭ major
- IA♭A♭ C E♭
- iiB♭mB♭ D♭ F
- iiiCmC E♭ G
- IVD♭D♭ F A♭
- VE♭E♭ G B♭
- viFmF A♭ C
- vii°GdimG B♭ D♭
Seventh chords
- Imaj7A♭maj7A♭ C E♭ G
- ii7B♭m7B♭ D♭ F A♭
- iii7Cm7C E♭ G B♭
- IVmaj7D♭maj7D♭ F A♭ C
- V7E♭7E♭ G B♭ D♭
- vi7Fm7F A♭ C E♭
- viiø7Gm7♭5G B♭ D♭ F
How to use these chords
- I, IV and V (A♭, D♭, E♭) are the primary chords. Together they contain all seven notes of the scale.
- vi (Fm) and iii (Cm) each share two notes with I, and ii (B♭m) shares two notes with IV, so these minor chords often stand in for them.
- V7 (E♭7) contains the leading tone, G, which pulls up to the root, so it resolves strongly to I. vii° (Gdim) has the same upper three notes as V7 and is mostly used as a passing chord.
- Common progressions, in Roman numerals: I V vi IV (A♭, E♭, Fm, D♭); I vi IV V (A♭, Fm, D♭, E♭); ii V I (B♭m, E♭, A♭); ii7 V7 Imaj7 (B♭m7, E♭7, A♭maj7).
Common uses of A♭ major
- A♭ major shares its seven notes and its key signature with its relative minor, F minor.
- On a piano, 4 of its seven notes are black keys.
- It reads easily for horn sections: B♭ instruments such as trumpet, clarinet and tenor saxophone read it as B♭ major, and E♭ alto saxophone reads it as F major.
- In the Camelot system DJs use for harmonic mixing, A♭ major is 4B; tracks in 3B, 5B and 4A usually mix smoothly with it.
- Open A♭ major in the Scale and Chord Finder
- Find your song's key from the audio: Detect Key and BPM
- Camelot Wheel: 4B
- Write chords or MIDI in A♭ major with MIDI LabMIDI Lab, from the same team as SongTools, writes chord progressions, bass, drums and melody as MIDI from a prompt.
- F minor: notes and chords
- All 24 major and minor keys
Questions about A♭ major
What chords are in A♭ major?
The seven chords in A♭ major are A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭, Fm, Gdim (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°). As seventh chords they are A♭maj7, B♭m7, Cm7, D♭maj7, E♭7, Fm7, Gm7♭5.
What notes are in the A♭ major scale?
A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G. Its key signature has 4 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭.
What is the relative minor of A♭ major?
F minor. It uses the same seven notes and key signature as A♭ major, starting from F. The parallel minor, G♯ minor, starts on the same note as A♭ major but has a different key signature.
What is the Camelot code for A♭ major?
4B. Next to it on the Camelot wheel are 3B and 5B, and 4A is its relative minor, F minor.