Guitar scale · exotic
Ab Bebop Major Scale
Major scale with a passing ♯5 (♭6) between the 5th and the 6th, giving eight notes so that chord tones fall on the beat.
Tap any note to hear it.
Ab Bebop Major Scale tab: all 5 positions
Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.
e|---------------------------------4-6-8-| B|---------------------------5-6-8-------| G|---------------------5-6-8-------------| D|---------------5-6-8-------------------| A|-------4-6-7-8-------------------------| E|-4-6-8---------------------------------|
e|------------------------------------6-8-9-| B|--------------------------------8-9-------| G|-----------------------6-8-9-10-----------| D|----------------6-8-10--------------------| A|-------6-7-8-10---------------------------| E|-6-8-9------------------------------------|
e|------------------------------------------8-9-11-12-| B|-------------------------------------9-11-----------| G|---------------------------8-9-10-12----------------| D|-------------------8-10-11--------------------------| A|-----------8-10-11----------------------------------| E|-8-9-11-12------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------11-12-13-15-| B|-------------------------------------------13-14-------------| G|----------------------------------12-13-15-------------------| D|----------------------11-13-14-15----------------------------| A|-------------11-13-15----------------------------------------| E|-11-12-13-15-------------------------------------------------|
e|-------------------------------------------------13-15-16-| B|----------------------------------------14-16-17----------| G|-------------------------------13-15-17-------------------| D|-------------------13-14-15-17----------------------------| A|----------13-15-16----------------------------------------| E|-13-15-16-------------------------------------------------|
How to play Ab Bebop Major on guitar
Find the root first: Ab is at fret 4 on the low E string and fret 11 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every Ab on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (3, 5, 7), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 4–8. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | Ab |
| 2 | Bb |
| 3 | C |
| 4 | Db |
| 5 | Eb |
| ♯5 | E |
| 6 | F |
| 7 | G |
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Questions
- What notes are in the Ab Bebop Major Scale?
- The Ab Bebop Major Scale has 8 notes: Ab, Bb, C, Db, Eb, E, F, G.
- What is the formula of the bebop major scale?
- 1 2 3 4 5 ♯5 6 7, which is the step pattern W W H W H H W H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play Ab Bebop Major on the guitar?
- The root Ab is at fret 4 on the low E string and fret 11 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 4–8, and four more positions connect it up the neck.