Ab major chord on piano

The Ab chord (Ab major, also written G# major) is three notes: A♭, C and E♭. Start on A♭, count four half steps up to C, then three more to E♭.

  • A♭root, 1
  • Cmajor 3rd, 3
  • E♭perfect 5th, 5
C3A♭1E♭5

Fingers are numbered from the thumb, 1, to the little finger, 5. Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

How to play Ab major on piano

  1. Find A♭, the middle black key of a group of three.
  2. Put your right thumb (finger 1) on A♭.
  3. Count four half steps up, black and white keys alike, to C. Rest your middle finger (3) there.
  4. Count three more half steps to E♭ for your little finger (5).
  5. Press all three keys together.
  6. For the left hand, play the same keys with fingers 5, 3 and 1, or play A♭ an octave lower with your little finger.

Inversions

  1. C3A♭1E♭5

    Root position

    A♭, C, E♭

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  2. C1E♭2A♭5

    1st inversion

    C, E♭, A♭

    Right hand 1, 2, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  3. C5E♭1A♭3

    2nd inversion

    E♭, A♭, C

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 2, 1.

Practice Ab major

Hold each position of A♭ major for four beats, then move to the next: root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, and round again. Start at 60 beats a minute and move up toward 100 once every change lands on the beat.

CA♭E♭
  1. Root positionA♭–C–E♭
  2. 1st inversionC–E♭–A♭
  3. 2nd inversionE♭–A♭–C

The shape of Ab major

Ab major is black, white, black: C is the only white key. C# major and Eb major have the same pattern.

Ab major is built from the A♭ major scale: take its 1st, 3rd and 5th notes, skipping every other note.

  1. A♭1
  2. B♭2
  3. C3
  4. D♭4
  5. E♭5
  6. F6
  7. G7

Smooth changes from Ab major

Jumping from one root position chord to the next moves the whole hand. The right inversion keeps shared notes still and moves the others the shortest way. Below are the chords built on the 4th and 5th notes of Ab major's own key: Db and Eb.

  • FA♭D♭

    From Ab to Db, play Db in 2nd inversion (A♭–D♭–F): A♭ stays, C moves up a half step to D♭ and E♭ moves up two half steps to F.

  • GB♭E♭

    From Ab to Eb, play Eb in 1st inversion (G–B♭–E♭): A♭ moves down a half step to G, C moves down two half steps to B♭ and E♭ stays.

Ab major on the staff and on guitar

♭♭
On the treble staff, A♭ sits in the second space, C in the third space and E♭ in the top space.
4fr134211A♭E♭A♭CE♭A♭
E shape, 4th fretFrets, low E to high E: 4 6 6 5 4 4

Keys with Ab major in them

  • D♭ majorVD♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, A♭, B♭m, Cdim
  • C♯ majorVC♯, D♯m, E♯m, F♯, G♯, A♯m, B♯dim
  • E♭ majorIVE♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭, Cm, Ddim
  • A♭ majorIA♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭, Fm, Gdim
  • C minorVICm, Ddim, E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭
  • C♯ minorVFrom C♯ harmonic minor, which raises the scale's 7th note a half step so this chord leads back to C♯.
  • F minorIIIFm, Gdim, A♭, B♭m, Cm, D♭, E♭
  • B♭ minorVIIB♭m, Cdim, D♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, A♭

Progressions that use it

  • I–IV–V, in A♭ major

    1. IA♭
    2. IVD♭
    3. VE♭

  • I–V–vi–IV, in A♭ major

    1. IA♭
    2. VE♭
    3. viFm
    4. IVD♭

  • vi–IV–I–V, in A♭ major

    1. viFm
    2. IVD♭
    3. IA♭
    4. VE♭

  • I–vi–IV–V (the 50s progression), in A♭ major

    1. IA♭
    2. viFm
    3. IVD♭
    4. VE♭

Related chords

Hearing a chord you can't name? Press its keys in the chord identifier.

Save or print the Ab major chord chart

Ab major chord on piano keyboard, notes A♭ C E♭
Download the Ab major chord chart (PNG). Free to print and share. For every chord on one page, see the piano chord chart.

Practice notes for Ab major

A♭ major is black, white, black: A♭ and E♭ are black keys and C is the white key between them. It shares that shape with D♭ major and E♭ major.

Where it goes wrong. Finding A♭: it is the middle black key of the group of three. It is easy to land one black key off. Count the group of three from the left, first, second: the second black key is A♭. The middle finger then lands on C, the white key just right of the group of three.

How to practice it. Play the chord, then G♯ major, which is the same three keys written as G♯, B♯, D♯. You will rarely see that spelling, but knowing it saves confusion when you do. Then practice the move to D♭ in 2nd inversion (A♭–D♭–F): the thumb stays on A♭.

What to listen for. The white C in the middle is the major third. Lower it to C♭, which is the white key B, and you have A♭ minor. Back and forth, the change is small under the hand and large to the ear.

What to learn next. D♭ major and E♭ major, the IV and V chords in A♭. All three use the black, white, black habit, so they reinforce each other.

Questions

What notes are in a Ab major chord?

A♭, C and E♭. A♭ is the root, C is a major 3rd above it and E♭ is a perfect 5th above it.

How is Ab major different from Ab minor?

Only the middle note changes. Ab minor lowers C a half step to C♭; the other two notes stay.

Is Ab major the same as G# major?

Yes. On the piano they are the same three keys. Ab major is spelled A♭, C and E♭; G# major is spelled G♯, B♯ and D♯. Which name a piece uses depends on its key signature.

What does the chord symbol Ab mean?

A letter on its own means a major chord, so A♭ means Ab major: A♭, C and E♭. You may also see it written A♭M, A♭maj or A♭Δ.