A♭ major pentatonic scale (G♯ major pentatonic)
A♭ major pentatonic scale is A♭ – B♭ – C – E♭ – F, with A♭, B♭ and E♭. Formula 1 2 3 5 6. Hit play and watch it light up on both instruments.
A♭ major pentatonic scale, note by note
Counted in steps it goes W W W+H W W+H (W = whole step, H = half step, W+H = a step and a half). With no half steps, any two notes of it sound fine together. The wide steps are C–E♭ and F–A♭.
| Degree | Note | Interval from A♭ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A♭ | root | |
| 2 | B♭ | major second | |
| 3 | C | major third | |
| 5 | E♭ | perfect fifth | |
| 6 | F | major sixth |
What A♭ major pentatonic sounds like
Country licks, folk melodies and a lot of bright rock solos come from this shape. Over a A♭ major chord every note of A♭ major pentatonic is safe to land on.
Its relative minor pentatonic starts on F: same five notes, different home.
A♭ major pentatonic scale is A♭ major scale without D♭ and G. Hear A♭ major scale and compare.
On piano and on guitar
On the piano it uses three black keys (A♭, B♭ and E♭) and two white.
The guitar box starts with the root at the 4th fret of the low E string and spans frets 2–8: 12 notes, low string to high, two per string.
What to play it over
Improvising in A♭ major pentatonic? It fits over A♭, A♭sus2, A♭6, A♭add9, Fm, Fm7, B♭sus2, E♭sus2, B♭sus4, E♭sus4, Fsus4.
A♭ major pentatonic scale shares all its notes with F minor pentatonic (starting on the 5th note, F). Which one you hear depends on which note the music treats as home.
Moving it around the guitar
Find A♭ first: fret 4 of the 6th string, fret 11 of the 5th. Box positions begin at frets 1, 4, 6, 8 and 11 on the 6th string. Learn the first, then connect it to its neighbor. With no half steps there are no clashing notes to avoid, which is why it is the first scale many guitarists improvise with.
On the piano, A♭ major pentatonic scale uses 3 black keys (A♭, B♭ and E♭) and 2 white.
Try it in thirds to stop it sounding like an exercise: A♭–C, B♭–E♭, C–F, E♭–A♭, F–B♭, then back down.
Three ways to practise A♭ major pentatonic
Try these after the plain scale. Tap to hear each pattern at a steady speed, then play along.
- Groups of three: A♭ B♭ C · B♭ C E♭ · C E♭ F · E♭ F A♭.
- Lean on F: A♭ F A♭ F A♭: the 6th keeps it sweet, with no half steps anywhere.
Scales to compare with A♭ major pentatonic
Major pentatonic scale in every key
A♭ major pentatonic scale: questions
What are the notes of the A♭ major pentatonic scale?
5 notes: A♭, B♭, C, E♭ and F.
How many sharps or flats are in the A♭ major pentatonic scale?
Three: A♭, B♭ and E♭.
What's the difference between A♭ major pentatonic scale and A♭ major scale?
It leaves out D♭ and G.
What chords go with the A♭ major pentatonic scale?
Any chord built only from its notes, for example A♭, A♭sus2, A♭6, A♭add9, Fm and Fm7.
Notes and fingering generated from the scale formula and checked automatically against the step pattern. Updated September 2026.