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A♭ major

A♭ major has 4 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭ and D♭). Its scale is A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G, its chords are A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭, Fm and Gdim, and its relative minor is F minor.

Make a beat in A♭ majorWrite a melody in this key

Opens the free editor with a pop beat on A♭ E♭ Fm D♭. No account needed to start.

The A♭ major scale

Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half: the half steps come between C and D♭, and between G and A♭.

A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G A♭

CFGA♭B♭D♭E♭A♭

On the piano, A♭ major uses 4 black keys (A♭, B♭, D♭ and E♭) and 3 white keys (C, F and G).

The notes of A♭ major by scale degree
DegreeNoteName
1A♭Tonic
2B♭Supertonic
3CMediant
4D♭Subdominant
5E♭Dominant
6FSubmediant
7GLeading tone

Chords in A♭ major

One chord on each note of the scale, built from the scale’s own notes. The Roman numeral says which note it starts on: capitals are major, small letters minor.

IA♭
iiB♭m
iiiCm
IVD♭
VE♭
viFm
vii°Gdim

Which chords sound happy or sad

Bright

A♭ D♭ E♭

I, IV, V. The major chords. A♭ feels like home; E♭ pulls back to it.

Softer, sadder

B♭m Cm Fm

ii, iii, vi. The minor chords. Fm is the sad turn in many pop songs.

Tense

Gdim

vii°. Diminished: tense and unstable, it wants to move on, usually to A♭.

A progression in A♭ major

The pop progression · I–V–vi–IV
A♭
E♭
Fm
D♭
Hear it as

More progressions in A♭ major

Key signature and related keys

Key signature

4 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭

Written at the start of every line of music, so each B, E, A and D is played flat. Sharps join in the order F C G D A E B, and flats in the order B E A D G C F.

Relative minor

F minor

The same seven notes and key signature, starting on F.

Parallel minor

G♯ minor

The same home note (G♯ is A♭ written another way), with 5 sharps. Borrowing a chord from it makes a part sound darker.

Next to it on the circle of fifths

Keys next to each other share six of their seven notes. See them all on the circle of fifths.

A♭ major in beats

None of the editor’s genre starters is written in A♭ major, so the beat above plays its chords over lo-fi, pop, trap, house or drill drums. Set the editor’s project key to A♭ major and the chords and parts you add next follow it.

Questions about A♭ major

How many flats are in A♭ major?

Four: B♭, E♭, A♭ and D♭. Those notes are played flat every time, so the key signature has 4 flats, and F minor, its relative minor, has the same.

What is the relative minor of A♭ major?

F minor. It uses the same seven notes and the same key signature as A♭ major, but starts on F, the sixth note of the scale. The two share every chord, which is why songs move between them so easily.

What chords are in A♭ major?

A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭, Fm and Gdim: one built on each note of the scale (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°). A♭, D♭ and E♭ are the three major chords most songs in A♭ major lean on, and Fm (vi) gives a sadder turn.

What is the most common chord progression in A♭ major?

I–V–vi–IV: A♭, E♭, Fm and D♭. It is behind hundreds of hit songs, and it is the one the beat on this page plays.

Every key

Major keys
C majorG majorD majorA majorE majorB majorF♯ majorD♭ majorA♭ majorE♭ majorB♭ majorF major
Minor keys
A minorE minorB minorF♯ minorC♯ minorG♯ minorD♯ minorB♭ minorF minorC minorG minorD minor

Build a song in A♭ major

Start with the beat, then add chords, a melody and your voice in the editor, part by part.

Make a beat in A♭ majorAll music keys

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