A♭ major scale on drop D guitar

A♭ · B♭ · C · D♭ · E♭ · F · G

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 15 · One position.

The notes

  1. A♭1
  2. B♭2
  3. C3
  4. D♭4
  5. E♭5
  6. F6
  7. G7

The A♭ major scale is A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G.

You may also see it called Ionian.

On the staff

A♭B♭CD♭E♭FGA♭

On a treble staff, the A♭ major scale is written A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G.

This is one octave of the A♭ major scale, written on the treble clef. Guitar and bass music is written an octave higher than it sounds, and the small 8 under the clef is the sign for that.

Why the A♭ major scale has these flats

  1. A♭1
  2. T
  3. B♭2
  4. T
  5. C3
  6. S
  7. D♭4
  8. T
  9. E♭5
  10. T
  11. F6
  12. T
  13. G7
  14. S
  15. A♭8

A scale is a pattern of steps, and this one is T T S T T T S: a tone, a tone, a semitone, and so on. S stands for a semitone, the distance of one fret or one key. T stands for a tone, which is two semitones. The pattern is what gives A♭ major its sound, and it stays the same whichever note you start on.

The second rule is that a seven-note scale uses each letter name once, from A to G, so its seven notes take seven different letters. That is why A♭ major is spelled the way it is, rather than with whichever accidental looks tidier.

Together, the two rules leave no room for choice. If you walk the pattern up from A♭, three letters cannot keep up:

  • B♭ — the second. The pattern needs a tone from A♭, but A♭ to B is only a tone and a half, so B has to fall to B♭.
  • D♭ — the fourth. The pattern needs a semitone from C, but C to D is only a tone, so D has to fall to D♭.
  • E♭ — the fifth. The pattern needs a tone from D♭, but D♭ to E is only a tone and a half, so E has to fall to E♭.

None of those accidentals was a choice. Once you pick the note to start on, the pattern decides the rest, and a key signature is a record of the result.

The A♭ major scale is written with A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭. A♭ has its accidental because that is the key, and the other notes need theirs because the T T S T T T S pattern of steps cannot be spelled from A♭ with plain letters.

The pattern of steps is the part of a scale that never changes. The letter names take sharps or flats to fit that pattern, and a key signature is a record of those sharps or flats.

On the piano

3CDE6F7GAB3CDE6F7GAB3CDE6F7GAB3CDE6F7GAB3C4D♭5E♭F♯1A♭2B♭4D♭5E♭F♯1A♭2B♭4D♭5E♭F♯1A♭2B♭4D♭5E♭F♯1A♭2B♭C2C3C4C5C6

The keyboard shows the same seven notes as a shape you can see. The coloured keys are the A♭ major scale, and you can click any key to hear it.

A♭ major scale on the whole neck

DADGBE123456789101112131415E♭5F6G7A♭1B♭2C3D♭4E♭5F6B♭2C3D♭4E♭5F6G7A♭1B♭2C3E♭5F6G7A♭1B♭2C3D♭4E♭5F6G7A♭1B♭2C3D♭4E♭5F6G7A♭1B♭2C3D♭4E♭5F6G7A♭1B♭2C3D♭4F6G7A♭1B♭2C3D♭4E♭5F6G7

79 notes of the A♭ major scale are marked across six strings.

This is every place the notes of the A♭ major scale fall on the drop D guitar, with each note's name and its scale degree. The roots are marked so you can find your bearings.

Position by position

Position 1 — starts on the 5
DADGBE123456567234567123345671
Position 2 — starts on the 6
DADGBE34567867134567123456712
Position 3 — starts on the 7
DADGBE567891071256712345671234
Position 4 — starts on the 1
DADGBE67891011123567123456671234
Position 5 — starts on the 2
DADGBE8910111213234671234567712345
Position 6 — starts on the 3
DADGBE10111213141534571234567123456
Position 7 — starts on the 4
DADGBE111213141516456123456712234567

The A♭ major scale has seven playable positions, at frets 1–5, 3–7, 5–9, 6–10, 8–12, 10–14 and 11–15.

Each shape starts on a different degree of the scale and fits inside five frets, so your hand can play all of it without moving.

One climb up the neck

DADGBE6789101112131415161718192021123456712345671234567123TAB6810116810118101113101213151314161815161820

The climb runs from fret 6 to fret 20 and plays 24 notes.

This is one path from the lowest root to the top of the neck, and it plays each note once, never on two strings. It takes four notes on every string. The widest stretch on any one string is five frets.