Guitar scale · exotic
Ab Bebop Melodic Minor Scale
Melodic minor with a passing ♯5 (♭6) between the 5th and the 6th, giving eight notes.
Tap any note to hear it.
Ab Bebop Melodic 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|---------------------------5-6-8-------| G|---------------------4-6-8-------------| D|---------------5-6-8-------------------| A|-------4-6-7-8-------------------------| E|-4-6-7---------------------------------|
e|-----------------------------------6-7-9-| B|-------------------------------8-9-------| G|----------------------6-8-9-10-----------| D|----------------6-8-9--------------------| A|-------6-7-8-10--------------------------| E|-6-7-9-----------------------------------|
e|------------------------------------------9-11-12-| B|----------------------------------9-11-12---------| G|------------------------8-9-10-12-----------------| D|-----------------8-9-11---------------------------| A|---------8-10-11----------------------------------| E|-9-11-12------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------11-12-13-15-| B|-------------------------------------------12-14-------------| G|----------------------------------12-13-15-------------------| D|----------------------11-13-14-15----------------------------| A|-------------11-13-14----------------------------------------| E|-11-12-13-15-------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------13-15-16-| B|----------------------------------------14-16-17----------| G|-------------------------------13-15-16-------------------| D|-------------------13-14-15-17----------------------------| A|----------13-14-16----------------------------------------| E|-13-15-16-------------------------------------------------|
How to play Ab Bebop Melodic 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 |
| ♯5 | E |
| 6 | F |
| 7 | G |
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Questions
- What notes are in the Ab Bebop Melodic Minor Scale?
- The Ab Bebop Melodic Minor Scale has 8 notes: Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, E, F, G.
- What is the formula of the bebop melodic minor scale?
- 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♯5 6 7, which is the step pattern W H W W H H W H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play Ab Bebop Melodic 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.