A♭ bebop major (Ab bebop major) scale on guitar
A♭ bebop major has 8 notes: A♭ B♭ C D♭ E♭ E F G. Degrees: 1 2 3 4 5 ♭6 6 7. Formula: W W H W H H W H.
What notes are in the A♭ bebop major scale?
A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, E, F and G. It has 8 notes; its formula in whole and half steps is W W H W H H W H.
What does A♭ bebop major sound like, and when do you use it?
Major + passing ♭6: the bebop language over major chords. Use it over maj7 and 6.
Chord progressions to improvise with A♭ bebop major
In Jam mode (the Jam button above) a band of grand piano, upright bass and drums (recorded instruments) plays these progressions as swing, bossa, groove or ballad, and the fretboard lights up the notes of each chord as it plays. It's a backing track made for this scale in A♭:
- The turnaround (I6–vi7–ii7–V7): A♭6 | Fm7 | B♭m7 | E♭7. Eighth notes from the root on the downbeat: the passing ♭6 keeps the chord tones on the beats.
A♭ bebop major positions on guitar
In standard tuning (E A D G B E), with 3 notes per string, A♭ bebop major is played in 8 positions along the neck:
- Position 1: frets 3 to 8 (starts on the root)
- Position 2: frets 4 to 9
- Position 3: frets 6 to 11
- Position 4: frets 8 to 12
- Position 5: frets 9 to 13
- Position 6: frets 10 to 15
- Position 7: frets 0 to 4
- Position 8: frets 1 to 6
Bebop major in other keys
On other instruments
A♭ bebop major on piano · A♭ bebop major on bass · All scales