A flat major scale, notes and fingering.

The A flat major scale is Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F and G, then Ab again at the top. It has 4 flats in its key signature (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db), and four of its seven notes are black keys. Its relative minor is F minor. In steps it goes whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half, the same pattern as every major scale.

How to play A flat major on piano

1. Find Ab. Ab is the middle black key of the group of three.
2. Click Right hand and Two octaves. The circles on the keyboard show the finger for each note, starting with finger 3 on Ab. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press Play scale to hear the scale go up and come back down. Up plays only the way up and Down only the way down. Change Speed if it is too quick.
4. Click Left hand. The left hand plays one octave lower and starts with finger 3 on Ab.
5. Click One octave to see only the first eight notes, Ab to Ab, with the fingers for that run.
6. Under the keyboard, Play on a chord card plays the three-note chord built on that note, such as Ab on Ab and Eb on Eb.
7. Open Note names. Choose Sharps or Flats to see the black keys written the other way, for example Ab as G#.

The notes, one by one

Worked example: the right hand starts on Ab3 on this page. That key is 13 semitones below A4, so on a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz its frequency is 440 × 2^(-13/12), which is about 207.65 Hz. The top Ab, one octave higher, doubles that to about 415.30 Hz. Counting the steps in between, 2 + 2 + 1 + 2 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 12 semitones. The fifth note, Eb, is 7 of them above the root.

Key signature of Ab major

Ab major has 4 flats: Bb, Eb, Ab and Db. Flats are always added in the same order, B E A D G C F, so a signature with four flats uses the first four of them. Written once at the start of the staff, they apply to every B, E, A and D in the piece, in every octave.

To see why, go up from Ab by whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half. The notes that land on black keys are number 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the seven, and they are written Ab, Bb, Db and Eb. Each letter name is used once in a scale, so the marks go on B, E, A and D, and the signature lists exactly those letters.

What is particular about Ab major

Ab major has four flats: Bb, Eb, Ab and Db. Its notes are Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, F and G, which run black, black, white, black, black, white, white. The scale starts on a black key and the leading note G is the white key just below it. The right hand plays the thumb on the white keys C and F, so the black keys are all played by the longer fingers.

Fingering for both hands

The usual teaching fingering for Ab major in the right hand is 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 for the first octave, and for two octaves 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3. In the left hand it is 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 for the first octave, and for two octaves 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4 3 2 1 3. The right thumb lands on C and F and the left thumb on C and G; all of those are white keys. Coming down, use the same fingers in reverse order. Other fingerings exist, and a teacher may change them to suit your hand, so treat this as the standard starting point.

Chords in Ab major

Stack every other note of the scale and you get a three-note chord on each degree. In every major key the pattern is the same: major on I, IV and V, minor on ii, iii and vi, and diminished on vii. In Ab major that gives Ab, Bbm, Cm, Db, Eb, Fm and Gdim. The three major chords, Ab, Db and Eb, are the ones that fit most simply together, for example in the order Ab, Db, Eb, Ab.

A way to practise it

Start with the right hand: Ab with finger 3, Bb with 4, then the thumb on C. The thumb sits on C and F, and the two black keys between them, Db and Eb, are played by fingers 2 and 3. Practise the first three notes on their own, because the crossing comes early. Then add the left hand, which starts on finger 3.

A common slip

Starting on the white key A instead of the black key Ab. A major is a different scale, with three sharps.

Nearby keys

The relative minor of Ab major is F minor. It uses the same notes and the same key signature, starting on F. The parallel minor, Ab minor, starts on the same note but has 7 flats in its key signature.

The key a fifth higher is Eb major and the key a fifth lower is Db major. Ab major shares all but one note with each of them. Keys next to each other on the circle of fifths have signatures that differ by one mark. On this site the neighbours here are D flat major and E flat major.

When the scale is steady, play it with the metronome and compare it with the virtual piano. For other scale types, such as minor, modes and pentatonic, use the scale finder.