Minor scales have a dark and mysterious sound that is used to create tension and emotion in music. They’re essential scales to learn for composers and musicians, but they can be a bit confusing as there are three different types.
In this post, we’re going to be exploring the natural, melodic, and harmonic forms of A-Flat minor scale. So, if you’re ready to dive into the key of A-Flat minor, let’s get started!
A-Flat Natural Minor Scale
The first form of A-Flat minor that we will look at is the natural minor scale.
It’s made up of seven notes starting on Ab (which is known as the keynote). It then follows the natural minor scale formula of whole and half steps.
This gives us the notes: Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb Gb
As you can see, it has seven flat notes: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb and Fb
A-Flat Natural Minor Scale in the Treble Clef
Here are all the notes of A-Flat natural minor scale in the treble clef, ascending and descending.
A-Flat Natural Minor Scale in the Bass Clef
Next up, we have A-Flat natural minor scale in the bass clef, ascending and descending.
A-Flat Natural Minor Scale in the Alto Clef
The least common of all the clefs, here we have A-Flat natural minor scale in the Alto clef, ascending and descending.
A-Flat Natural Minor Scale in the Tenor Clef
And finally, here are all the notes of A-Flat natural minor scale in the tenor clef, ascending and descending.
Natural Minor Scale Formula
The natural minor scale, like every other type of scale, is constructed by using a certain combination of intervals between each note.
The formula, using whole steps and half steps, is:
Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step.
This is abbreviated to W W H W W W H.
Using the British terminology of tones and semitones, this would be:
Tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.
Which gets abbreviated to T S T T S T T.
A-Flat Harmonic Minor Scale
The next form of A-Flat minor scale we’ll look at is the A-Flat harmonic minor, which is slightly different from the natural minor in that it has a raised 7th note.
So, the notes in A-Flat harmonic minor are: Ab Bb Cb Db Eb Fb G
Like A-Flat natural minor, it also has a Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Cb, and Fb, but, notice that the seventh note is no longer a Gb but has been raised a half step to G natural.
A-Flat Harmonic Minor Scale in the Treble Clef
First, let’s look at A-Flat harmonic minor scale in the treble clef, ascending and descending.
A-Flat Harmonic Minor Scale in the Bass Clef
Next, we have A-Flat harmonic minor ascending and descending in the bass clef.
A-Flat Harmonic Minor Scale in the Alto Clef
The least common of all the clefs, here we have A-Flat harmonic minor ascending and descending in the alto clef.
A-Flat Harmonic Minor Scale in the Tenor Clef
And now we have A-Flat harmonic minor in the tenor clef, ascending and descending.
Hamonic Minor Scale Formula
The natural minor scale, like every other type of scale, is constructed by using a certain combination of intervals between each note.
The formula, using whole steps and half steps, is:
Whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, half step, whole and a half step, half step.
This is abbreviated to W H W W H WH H.
Using the British terminology of tones and semitones, this would be:
Tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone and a semitone, semitone.
Which gets abbreviated to T S T T S TS S.
A-Flat Melodic Minor Scale
And the last type of minor scale we’ll look at is A-Flat melodic minor scale. This one is a bit different from the others, though.
When it’s ascending, it’s different from the natural in that its 6th and 7th notes are raised.
This gives us the notes: Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F G
But, when descending, the 6th and 7th notes are flattened.
This means that it’s the same as the natural minor scale when descending, giving us the notes: Gb Fb Eb Db Cb Bb Ab
A-Flat Melodic Minor Scale in the Treble Clef
Let’s take a look at A-Flat melodic minor scale in the treble clef, ascending and descending.
A-Flat Minor Scale in the Bass Clef
Next up, let’s take a look at A-Flat melodic minor scale ascending and descending in the bass clef.
A-Flat Melodic Minor Scale in the Alto Clef
Now we have A-Flat melodic minor scale in the alto clef, ascending and descending.
A-Flat Melodic Minor Scale in the Tenor Clef
And here’s A-Flat melodic minor scale in the tenor clef, ascending and descending.
What is the Key Signature of A-Flat Minor?
To make playing in a certain key easier for the musician to read, we can use a key signature.
This helps us know to play certain notes sharp or flat without having to read an accidental each time.
A-Flat minor has the same key signature as Cb major, which has seven flats in its key signature: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb and Fb
Here’s the key signature for A-Flat minor in the treble, alto, tenor, and bass clefs.
What is the Relative Major Scale of A-Flat Minor?
Every minor scale has a relative major scale, and every major one has a relative minor one. But what is the relative major scale of A-Flat minor?
The relative major scale of Ab minor is Cb major.
Here is Cb major scale, which uses all the same notes as A-Flat natural minor but starts on Cb, which is its keynote: Cb Db Eb Fb Gb Ab Bb
But how do we know that Cb major is the relative major scale of Ab minor?
Well, to work out the relative major key of a minor one, all we have to do is go up three half steps (semitones).
So from Ab, we go up one half step to A, a second half step to Bb, and a third half step to Cb: Ab > A > Bb > Cb
To learn more about the relative major of A-Flat minor, see our guide to C-Flat major scale here.
Conclusion
That’s it for our guide to the scale of A-Flat minor! We hope it helped make a bit more sense of everything.
Feel free to use this post as a reference and let us know if you have any other questions.
