Guitar Chords in A Flat Major
Diatonic Triads
The guitar chords in A flat Major include: Ab, Bbm, Cm, Db, Eb, Fm, & Gdim.
The key of Ab has 4 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, and Db - spells the word BEAD).
We'll keep all of these chords in first position.
The Major Keys: C G D A E B F# Gb Db Ab Eb Bb F
Practice:
- Fretting all of the guitar chords in A flat.
- Practice the scale.
- Play the 'alphabetical' Chord Scale.
- Play the progression (I-vi-ii-V7-I).
- Write your own chord progression using the guitar chords in A flat (which stream of chords sound good to your ear), again keeping in mind, but not necessarily following:
What's the 6 in the C minor chord?
6 means literally that we've added a 6 to the chord. The 6 of C is A. 123456 = cdefga. A is also the 13, and we could call a 6 chord a 13, but this will typically be the case when the actual tone that is the 6 is literally 13 tones away (123456789 10 11 12 13 = cdefgabcdefga). In this case, the A on the 3rd string, 2nd fret is 6 tones up from the C.
We've included the A in this C minor chord so we may bar the e flat and the c in the first fret. Without adding this A, we would simply have the tonic chord, Ab (we would be barring 3 tones in the first fret - see the I chord).
Some of these guitar chords in A flat don't have the Root in the bass. Doesn't this make them slash chords?
Yes. Technically this is true. Here are what those chords are really called:
The reason we didn't list these as such is that when you see a slash chord written, this generally means that you should use that voicing.
In our case, when we see Ab written, we have a whole bunch of options. We choose to play the voicing we think is most appropriate, and a slash chord (Ab/C) is a possibility. These chords are all fragments.
When selecting which chord type to use (full, fragment), motor hand articulation often dictates this. If you are strumming, muting becomes the most important feature for fragments (not true for full 6 string chords - nonfragments).
When you are fingerpicking or picking, you may or may not mute inactive strings. Why? Because you are picking the exact tones, so you have a choice to mute or not to mute. Strings left unmuted may end up ringing (sympathetic vibration), so muting them may be a good idea, but not absolutely necessary due to the type of articulation you are using.
What are the gray boxes in the scale frame?
On I Love Guitar, we try to stick to this key for most materials.
