A♭ melodic minor scale (G♯ melodic minor)
A♭ melodic minor scale is A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D♭ – E♭ – F – G, with A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭ and E♭. Formula 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7. Press play and follow the keys.
A♭ melodic minor scale, note by note
The step pattern is W H W W W W H (W = whole step, H = half step). The half steps fall between B♭–C♭ and G–A♭.
| 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 | major sixth | |
| 7 | G | major seventh |
What A♭ melodic minor sounds like
With the 6th and 7th raised, A♭ melodic minor is only one note away from A♭ major: the minor 3rd. It climbs smoothly to the top without harmonic minor's big gap.
Its chords include D♭ and E♭, both with major thirds, so a melody in A♭ melodic minor can sit over a major IV and V while the tonic stays A♭m.
Compared with G♯ natural minor scale, A♭ melodic minor scale has F and G where the other has E and F♯; the other five notes are shared. Hear G♯ natural minor scale and compare.
Playing A♭ melodic minor
On the piano it uses four black keys (A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and three white. C♭ is a white key 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♭ melodic minor scale; the ones that differ from the major set are what give the scale its color. Tap to hear each one.
A♭ melodic minor scale across the fretboard
Anchor points for A♭: low E string fret 4, A string fret 11. Five overlapping fingerings cover the neck, starting near frets 1, 4, 6, 9 and 11 on the low E string. Classical teaching plays it with the raised notes going up and natural minor coming down; jazz players keep it the same both ways.
On the piano, A♭ melodic 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.
Three ways to practise A♭ melodic minor
Try these after the plain scale. Tap to hear each pattern at a steady speed, then play along.
- Three-note runs: A♭ B♭ C♭ · B♭ C♭ D♭ · C♭ D♭ E♭ · D♭ E♭ F · E♭ F G · F G A♭.
- Lean on F: A♭ F A♭ F A♭: the raised 6th and 7th make the top half sound major.
Scales to compare with A♭ melodic minor
Melodic minor scale in every key
A♭ melodic minor scale: questions
What are the notes of the A♭ melodic minor scale?
A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F, G, A♭. As degrees: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 7.
How many sharps or flats are in the A♭ melodic minor scale?
Five: A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭ and E♭.
What chords are in the A♭ melodic minor scale?
Stacking thirds on each note gives A♭m (i), B♭m (ii), C♭aug (III+), D♭ (IV), E♭ (V), Fdim (vi°) and Gdim (vii°).
What's the difference between A♭ melodic minor scale and G♯ natural minor scale?
F and G in A♭ melodic minor; E and F♯ in the other. Everything else is the same.
Notes and fingering generated from the scale formula and checked automatically against the step pattern. Updated September 2026.