Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
Ab Major Blues Scale
Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.
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.
e|-------------------4-6-7-| B|---------------4-6-------| G|-----------4-5-----------| D|---------6---------------| A|-------6-----------------| E|-4-6-7-------------------|
e|-----------------------6-7-8-| B|-------------------6-9-------| G|-----------------8-----------| D|-----------6-8-9-------------| A|-------6-8-------------------| E|-6-7-8-----------------------|
e|----------------------------8-11-| B|-----------------------9-11------| G|------------------8-10-----------| D|-----------8-9-10----------------| A|------8-11-----------------------| E|-8-11----------------------------|
e|-------------------------------11-13-| B|----------------------11-12-13-------| G|-------------------13----------------| D|----------------13-------------------| A|-------11-13-14----------------------| E|-11-13-------------------------------|
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
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ab |
| 2 | Bb |
| ♭3 | Cb |
| 3 | C |
| 5 | Eb |
| 6 | F |
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Practise Ab Major Blues anywhere, even offline.
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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.