About Ab — triad voicings
Ab is Ab, C and Eb.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Ab notes and formula
| Ab | C | Eb |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Also written Abmaj, AbM or Ab major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Ab
Three notes on one string set. No seventh, so nothing is claimed about the chord beyond its quality.
Thin on their own, excellent over a bass line or against someone else’s harmony.
Ab has 45 of them, on the low-middle three, the high-middle three, the middle four strings, the top three strings, the top four strings, the bottom four strings, the bottom three strings, strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 5-3-2-1, from open position up to the 13th — every inversion the chord has: Ab in the bass, C in the bass and Eb in the bass. The one to learn first is the C shape at the nut, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the middle four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
All 6 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 431114, 1st fret, Ab, root position, top note Ab, barred
- xx1114, 1st fret, Eb, 2nd inversion, top note Ab, barred
- 466544, 4th fret, Ab, root position, top note Ab, barred
- xx6898, 6th fret, Ab, root position, top note C, all fretted
- x-11-10-8-9-8, 8th fret, Ab, root position, top note C, all fretted
- x-11-13-13-13-11, 11th fret, Ab, root position, top note Eb, barred
How to use Ab
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Ab is Bbm7 to Eb7 — the ii and the V of Ab — and Eb7 shares its third and seventh with Bbm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Ab belongs to C minor (the ♭VI), C# major (the V), Eb major (the IV), F minor (the ♭III), Ab major (the I) and Bb minor (the ♭VII).
What to play over Ab
Every note of Ab is in Ab major pentatonic, Ab major, Ab lydian, Ab mixolydian and Ab lydian dominant.
Chords near Ab
Change one note of Ab and you have Abm (the major third becomes the minor third), Absus2 (the major third becomes the second), Absus4 (the major third becomes the fourth), Abmaj7 (add the major seventh), Abadd9 (add the ninth) or Ab5 (drop the major third).
Ab is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.