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Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues

Ab Major Blues Scale

Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.

Notes AbBbCbCEbF
Formula 1 2 ♭3 3 5 6
Steps W H H W+H W W+H
Mood Swinging, Vibrant, Expressive
Heard in B.B. King style, Country Blues, Swing

Interactive scale diagram

Ab Major Blues 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 Major Blues 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|-------------------4-6-7-|
B|---------------4-6-------|
G|-----------4-5-----------|
D|---------6---------------|
A|-------6-----------------|
E|-4-6-7-------------------|
Position 2 · D shape frets 6–9
e|-----------------------6-7-8-|
B|-------------------6-9-------|
G|-----------------8-----------|
D|-----------6-8-9-------------|
A|-------6-8-------------------|
E|-6-7-8-----------------------|
Position 3 · C shape frets 8–11
e|----------------------------8-11-|
B|-----------------------9-11------|
G|------------------8-10-----------|
D|-----------8-9-10----------------|
A|------8-11-----------------------|
E|-8-11----------------------------|
Position 4 · A shape frets 11–14
e|-------------------------------11-13-|
B|----------------------11-12-13-------|
G|-------------------13----------------|
D|----------------13-------------------|
A|-------11-13-14----------------------|
E|-11-13-------------------------------|
Position 5 · G shape frets 13–16
e|-------------------------------------13-16-|
B|-------------------------------13-16-------|
G|----------------------13-15-16-------------|
D|----------------13-15----------------------|
A|-------13-14-15----------------------------|
E|-13-16-------------------------------------|

How to play Ab Major Blues 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), 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
♭3 Cb
3 C
5 Eb
6 F

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Questions

What notes are in the Ab Major Blues Scale?
The Ab Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: Ab, Bb, Cb, C, Eb, F.
What is the formula of the major blues scale?
1 2 ♭3 3 5 6, which is the step pattern W H H W+H W W+H (W = whole step, H = half step).
Where do I play Ab Major Blues 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.

Major Blues Scale in every key

More scales in Ab