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Guitar scale · suspended pentatonic

Ab Egyptian Pentatonic Scale

Pentatonic scale 1 2 4 5 ♭7, also called the suspended pentatonic. It has no 3rd and no half steps.

Notes AbBbDbEbGb
Formula 1 2 4 5 ♭7
Steps W W+H W W+H W
Mood Open, Suspended, Floating
Heard in Modal Improvisation, Folk-inspired Melodies

Interactive scale diagram

Ab Egyptian Pentatonic Scale · Standard tuning

STR OP 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 E A D G B E

Tap any note to hear it.

Ab Egyptian Pentatonic Scale tab: all 5 positions

Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.

Position 1 · E shape frets 4–7
e|-------------------4-6-|
B|---------------4-7-----|
G|-------------6---------|
D|---------4-6-----------|
A|-----4-6---------------|
E|-4-6-------------------|
Position 2 · D shape frets 6–9
e|---------------------6-9-|
B|-----------------7-9-----|
G|-------------6-8---------|
D|---------6-8-------------|
A|-----6-9-----------------|
E|-6-9---------------------|
Position 3 · C shape frets 8–11
e|--------------------------9-11-|
B|---------------------9-11------|
G|----------------8-11-----------|
D|-----------8-11----------------|
A|------9-11---------------------|
E|-9-11--------------------------|
Position 4 · A shape frets 11–14
e|-------------------------------11-14-|
B|-------------------------11-14-------|
G|-------------------11-13-------------|
D|-------------11-13-------------------|
A|-------11-13-------------------------|
E|-11-14-------------------------------|
Position 5 · G shape frets 13–16
e|-------------------------------14-16-|
B|-------------------------14-16-------|
G|-------------------13-15-------------|
D|-------------13-16-------------------|
A|-------13-16-------------------------|
E|-14-16-------------------------------|

How to play Ab Egyptian Pentatonic 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 (4, 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 4–7. 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

DegreeNote
1 Ab
2 Bb
4 Db
5 Eb
♭7 Gb

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Questions

What notes are in the Ab Egyptian Pentatonic Scale?
The Ab Egyptian Pentatonic Scale has 5 notes: Ab, Bb, Db, Eb, Gb.
What is the formula of the egyptian pentatonic scale?
1 2 4 5 ♭7, which is the step pattern W W+H W W+H W (W = whole step, H = half step).
Where do I play Ab Egyptian Pentatonic 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 4–7, and four more positions connect it up the neck.

Egyptian Pentatonic Scale in every key

More scales in Ab