Guitar scale · exotic
Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor Scale
Harmonic minor with a passing ♭7 between the ♭6 and the 7, giving eight notes.
Tap any note to hear it.
Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor Scale tab: all 5 positions
Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.
e|---------------------------------4-6-7-| B|---------------------------5-7-8-------| G|---------------------4-6-8-------------| D|-------------4-5-6-8-------------------| A|-------4-6-7---------------------------| E|-4-6-7---------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------6-7-9-| B|----------------------------7-8-9-------| G|----------------------6-8-9-------------| D|----------------6-8-9-------------------| A|-------6-7-9-10-------------------------| E|-6-7-9----------------------------------|
e|------------------------------------------9-11-12-| B|----------------------------------9-11-12---------| G|------------------------8-9-11-12-----------------| D|-----------------8-9-11---------------------------| A|---------9-10-11----------------------------------| E|-9-11-12------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------11-12-14-15-| B|-------------------------------------------12-14-------------| G|-------------------------------11-12-13-15-------------------| D|----------------------11-13-14-------------------------------| A|-------------11-13-14----------------------------------------| E|-11-12-14-15-------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------14-15-16-| B|----------------------------------------14-16-17----------| G|-------------------------------13-15-16-------------------| D|-------------------13-14-16-17----------------------------| A|----------13-14-16----------------------------------------| E|-14-15-16-------------------------------------------------|
How to play Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor on guitar
Find the root first: Ab is at fret 4 on the low E string and fret 11 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every Ab on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (♭3, 5, ♭7), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 4–8. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ab |
| 2 | Bb |
| ♭3 | Cb |
| 4 | Db |
| 5 | Eb |
| ♭6 | Fb |
| ♭7 | Gb |
| 7 | G |
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Questions
- What notes are in the Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor Scale?
- The Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor Scale has 8 notes: Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, Gb, G.
- What is the formula of the bebop harmonic minor scale?
- 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 7, which is the step pattern W H W W H W H H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play Ab Bebop Harmonic Minor on the guitar?
- The root Ab is at fret 4 on the low E string and fret 11 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 4–8, and four more positions connect it up the neck.