A-flat major scale

The Solution below shows the Ab major scale notes, intervals and scale degrees on the piano, treble clef and bass clef.

The Lesson steps then explain how to identify the A-flat major scale note interval positions, choose the note names and scale degree names.

For a quick summary of this topic, have a look at Major scale.

Keys in the major scale
KeyCC#DbDD#EbEE#FbFF#GbGG#[Ab]AA#BbBB#CbAll On 1 page

Solution - 2 parts

1. A-flat major scale

This step shows the ascending A-flat major scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef. It also shows the scale degree chart for all 8 notes.

The A-flat major scale has 4 flats.

This major scale key is on the Circle of 5ths - Ab major on circle of 5ths, which means that it is a commonly used major scale key.

A-flat major scale note names
Note no.Note intervalNote name
1tonicThe 1st note of the A-flat major scale is Ab
2Ab-maj-2ndThe 2nd note of the A-flat major scale is Bb
3Ab-maj-3rdThe 3rd note of the A-flat major scale is C
4Ab-perf-4thThe 4th note of the A-flat major scale is Db
5Ab-perf-5thThe 5th note of the A-flat major scale is Eb
6Ab-maj-6thThe 6th note of the A-flat major scale is F
7Ab-maj-7thThe 7th note of the A-flat major scale is G
8Ab-perf-8thThe 8th note of the A-flat major scale is Ab

A-flat major scale

Middle C (midi note 60) is shown with an orange line under the 2nd note on the piano diagram.

These note names are shown below on the treble clef followed by the bass clef.

A-flat major scale

A-flat major scale

The stave diagrams above shows the scale notes without a key signature, with the sharp / flat adjustments inserted before each note on the staff.

For the key signature of this scale, showing these symbols grouped correctly next to the bass or treble clef symbol at the beginning, have a look at the Ab major key signature.

A-flat major scale degrees
Note no.Degree name
1Ab is the tonic of the A-flat major scale
2Bb is the supertonic of the A-flat major scale
3C is the mediant of the A-flat major scale
4Db is the subdominant of the A-flat major scale
5Eb is the dominant of the A-flat major scale
6F is the submediant of the A-flat major scale
7G is the leading tone of the A-flat major scale
8Ab is the octave of the A-flat major scale
bass clef icon  Bass Clef
treble clef icon  Treble Clef

2. A-flat major scale descending

This step shows the descending A-flat major scale on the piano, treble clef and bass clef.
A-flat major scale descending
No.1234567
NoteGFEbDbCBbAb

A-flat major scale descending

A-flat major scale descending

A-flat major scale descending

bass clef icon  Bass Clef
treble clef icon  Treble Clef

Lesson steps

1. Piano key note names

This step shows the white and black note names on a piano keyboard so that the note names are familiar for later steps, and to show that the note names start repeating themselves after 12 notes.

The white keys are named using the alphabetic letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G, which is a pattern that repeats up the piano keyboard.

Every white or black key could have a flat(b) or sharp(#) accidental name, depending on how that note is used. In a later step, if sharp or flat notes are used, the exact accidental names will be chosen.

Sharp and flat note names

The audio files below play every note shown on the piano above, so middle C (marked with an orange line at the bottom) is the 2nd note heard.

bass clef icon  Bass Clef
treble clef icon  Treble Clef

2. A-flat tonic note and one octave of notes

This step shows an octave of notes in the key of Ab, to identify the start and end notes of the scale.

The numbered notes are those that might be used when building this note scale.

But since this is a scale in the key of Ab, it is certain that notes 1 and 13 will be used in the scale.

Note 1 is the tonic note - the starting note - Ab, and note 13 is the same note name but one octave higher.

A-flat chromatic scale-1 octave of notes

A-flat chromatic scale-1 octave of notes
No.12345678910111213
NoteAbAA# / BbBCC# / DbDD# / EbEFF# / GbGAb
bass clef icon  Bass Clef
treble clef icon  Treble Clef

3. A-flat major scale note interval positions

This step applies the major scale note interval pattern starting from A-flat, so that the correct piano keys and note pitches can be identified.

The major scale uses the  W-W-H-W-W-W-H  note counting rule to identify the scale note positions.

To count up a Whole tone, count up by two physical piano keys, either white or black.

To count up a Half-tone (semitone), count up from the last note up by one physical piano key, either white or black.

The tonic note (shown as *) is the starting point and is always the 1st note in the major scale.

A-flat major scale note positions

Again, the final 8th note is the octave note, having the same name as the tonic note.
A-flat major scale
No.12345678
NoteAbA# / BbCC# / DbD# / EbFGAb
bass clef icon  Bass Clef
treble clef icon  Treble Clef

4. A-flat major scale notes

This step tries to assign note names to the piano keys identified in the previous step, so that they can be written on a note staff in the Solution section.

The 7 unique notes in a scale need to be named such that each letter from A to G is used once only, so each note name is either a natural white name(A.. G) , a sharp(eg. F#) or a flat(eg. Gb).

The rule ensures that every position of a staff is used once and once only - whether that position be a note in a space, or a note on a line.

This is needed to ensure that when it comes to writing the scale notes on a musical staff (eg. a bass or treble clef), there is no possibility of having 2 G-type notes, for example, with one of the notes needing an accidental next to it on the staff (a sharp, flat or natural symbol).

To apply this rule, firstly list the white key names starting from the tonic, which are shown the White column below.

Then list the 7 notes in the scale so far, shown in the next column.

For each of the 7 notes, look across and try to find the White note name in the Scale note name.

If the natural white note can be found in the scale note, the scale note is written in the Match? column.

The 8th note - the octave note, will have the same name as the first note, the tonic note.

A-flat major scale
No.WhiteScale noteMatch?
1AAbAb
2BA# / BbBb
3CCC
4DC# / DbDb
5ED# / EbEb
6FFF
7GGG
8AAbAb

For this major scale, all notes have a match, and so the Match? column shows the major scale note names.

A-flat major scale

5. A-flat major scale descending

This step shows the notes when descending the A-flat major scale, going from the highest note sound back to the starting note.

For major scales, the notes names when descending are just the reverse of the ascending names.

So assuming octave note 8 has been played in the step above, the notes now descend back to the tonic.

A-flat major scale descending

A-flat major scale descending
No.1234567
NoteGFEbDbCBbAb
bass clef icon  Bass Clef
treble clef icon  Treble Clef

6. A-flat major scale degrees

This step shows the A-flat major scale degrees - tonic, supertonic, mediant, subdominant, dominant, submediant, leading note / tone, and octave.
In music theory, each note in this scale has what is called a scale degree name, which describes the relationship of that note to the tonic(1st) note.

Scale degree names 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 8 below are always the same for all major and minor scales (ie. 1st note is always tonic, 2nd is supertonic etc.) , but obviously the note names will be different for each scale / key combination.

In the major scale, the 7th note is called the leading note or leading tone because the sound of the 7th note feels like it wants to resolve and finish at the octave note, when all scale notes are played in sequence.

It does this because in this scale, the 7th note is only 1 semitone away from the 8th note - the octave note. The Ab harmonic minor scale and Ab melodic minor scale scales share the same property - they both have only one half-tone / semitone between the 7th and 8th notes.

In contrast, the Ab natural minor scale has a whole tone (two half-tones / semitones, two notes on the piano keyboard) between the 7th and 8th notes, and the 7th note does not lean towards the 8th note in the same way. In this case, the 7th note is called the subtonic.

A-flat major scale degrees
Note no.Degree name
1Ab is the tonic of the A-flat major scale
2Bb is the supertonic of the A-flat major scale
3C is the mediant of the A-flat major scale
4Db is the subdominant of the A-flat major scale
5Eb is the dominant of the A-flat major scale
6F is the submediant of the A-flat major scale
7G is the leading tone of the A-flat major scale
8Ab is the octave of the A-flat major scale

Related Keys and Topics