A♭ blues major contains A♭, B♭, C♭, C, E♭, and F. Box 1 spans frets 1–4 with roots on string 4, fret 4 and string 1, fret 1.
A♭ blues major contains A♭, B♭, C♭, C, E♭, and F. Box 1 spans frets 1–4 with roots on string 4, fret 4 and string 1, fret 1.
A♭ blues major adds a minor 3rd to A♭ major pentatonic. The scale contains a tritone between C♭ and F, but no leading tone. Its step pattern is W, H, H, 1½, W, 1½. Compare it with A♭ major pentatonic.
A♭ blues major fits A♭ major and A♭ minor chords. Use it over 12-bar blues in A♭ and rock progressions. Try it over A♭ major and A♭ minor.
Practise Box 1 first. Its root on string 4, fret 4 keeps the scale low and sets up Box 2.
A♭ blues major in box 1 runs from fret 1 to fret 4, 10 notes across 4 strings, from F on the E string at fret 1 up to C♭ on the G string at fret 4. The root falls on the E string at fret 4 and the G string at fret 1.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 1, 4 | F, A♭ |
| 3 (A) | 1, 2, 3 | B♭, C♭, C |
| 2 (D) | 1, 3 | E♭, F |
| 1 (G) | 1, 3, 4 | A♭, B♭, C♭ |
A♭ blues major in box 3 runs from fret 6 to fret 9, 9 notes across 4 strings, from B♭ on the E string at fret 6 up to E♭ on the G string at fret 8. The root falls on the D string at fret 6.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 6, 7, 8 | B♭, C♭, C |
| 3 (A) | 6, 8 | E♭, F |
| 2 (D) | 6, 8, 9 | A♭, B♭, C♭ |
| 1 (G) | 8 | E♭ |
A♭ blues major in box 4 runs from fret 8 to fret 11, 9 notes across 4 strings, from C on the E string at fret 8 up to F on the G string at fret 10. The root falls on the A string at fret 11.
| String | Frets | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 4 (E) | 8, 11 | C, E♭ |
| 3 (A) | 8, 11 | F, A♭ |
| 2 (D) | 8, 9, 10 | B♭, C♭, C |
| 1 (G) | 8, 10 | E♭, F |
Every chord here uses only notes from the scale. Tap one to open it.
A♭ blues major contains A♭, B♭, C♭, C, E♭, and F. The scale includes both minor and major 3rds. It has a tritone between C♭ and F. It is also spelled G♯ in enharmonic notation for the same sounding root.
A♭ blues major fits A♭ major and A♭ minor chords. It also works over B♭ 5th and E♭ 5th. Use it for blues and rock bass lines.
A♭ blues major adds a C♭ to A♭ major pentatonic. This creates a minor 3rd alongside the major 3rd. The added note gives a bluesy colour.