A♭ harmonic minor scale (G♯ harmonic minor)
A♭ harmonic minor scale is A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D♭ – E♭ – F♭ – G, with A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭ and F♭. Formula 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7. Press play and follow the keys.
Notes and steps
Counted in steps it goes W H W W H W+H H (W = whole step, H = half step, W+H = a step and a half). The half steps fall between B♭–C♭, E♭–F♭ and G–A♭. The wide step is F♭–G.
| Degree | Note | Interval from A♭ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A♭ | root | |
| 2 | B♭ | major second | |
| ♭3 | C♭ | minor third | |
| 4 | D♭ | perfect fourth | |
| 5 | E♭ | perfect fifth | |
| ♭6 | F♭ | minor sixth | |
| 7 | G | major seventh |
What A♭ harmonic minor sounds like
Harmonic minor is natural minor with the 7th raised a half step, here to G. The raise gives the minor key a real leading tone and a major V chord, and it leaves a wide step-and-a-half gap between the 6th and 7th notes that sounds exotic on its own.
The gap between F♭ and G is three half steps. Play just those two notes back and forth and you'll recognize the harmonic minor sound anywhere.
Compared with G♯ natural minor scale, A♭ harmonic minor scale has G where the other has F♯; the other six notes are shared. Hear G♯ natural minor scale and compare.
Playing A♭ harmonic minor
On the piano it uses four black keys (A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and three white. C♭ and F♭ are white keys with a sharp or flat name, because each letter can appear only once in the scale.
On guitar the root sits at the 4th fret of the low E string. The box above covers frets 2–8 and holds 18 notes of the scale across all six strings; play it low string to high.
Chords built on each note
Stack every other note of the scale on each degree and you get 7 chords. These are the chords that fit A♭ harmonic minor scale; the ones that differ from the major set are what give the scale its color. Tap to hear each one.
A♭ harmonic minor scale across the fretboard
Find A♭ first: fret 4 of the 6th string, fret 11 of the 5th. Most guitarists learn it in five overlapping positions; on the low E string they begin around frets 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11. On guitar, the three-fret leap between the 6th and 7th notes is the stretch to practise on its own.
On the piano, A♭ harmonic minor scale uses 4 black keys (A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and 3 white.
Try it in thirds to stop it sounding like an exercise: A♭–C♭, B♭–D♭, C♭–E♭, D♭–F♭, E♭–G, F♭–A♭, G–B♭, then back down.
Practice patterns for A♭ harmonic minor scale
Once A♭ harmonic minor is comfortable up and down, break the order. Each pattern below uses only its 7 notes.
- Up in threes: A♭ B♭ C♭ · B♭ C♭ D♭ · C♭ D♭ E♭ · D♭ E♭ F♭ · E♭ F♭ G · F♭ G A♭.
- Target G: A♭ G A♭ G A♭: the raised 7th, a step and a half above the ♭6, gives the scale its exotic leap.
Close relatives of A♭ harmonic minor scale
Harmonic minor scale in every key
A♭ harmonic minor scale: questions
What are the notes of the A♭ harmonic minor scale?
7 notes: A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭ and G.
How many sharps or flats are in the A♭ harmonic minor scale?
Six: A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭ and F♭.
What chords are in the A♭ harmonic minor scale?
Stacking thirds on each note gives A♭m (i), B♭dim (ii°), C♭aug (III+), D♭m (iv), E♭ (V), F♭ (VI) and Gdim (vii°).
What's the difference between A♭ harmonic minor scale and G♯ natural minor scale?
G in A♭ harmonic minor; F♯ in the other. Everything else is the same.
Generated from the step pattern 2-1-2-2-1-3-1 and checked by the site's tests. Updated September 2026.