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Tomus

Key reference

The key of A♭ major

4 flats · A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G

A♭ major has 4 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭. A piece in this key draws on A♭, B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G and treats A♭ as home.

The seven chords below are the ones built from those notes alone, which is why they sound like they belong together.

The key signature

𝄞♭♭♭♭
The key signature of A♭ major: B, E, A, D.

Order of flats

  1. B♭
  2. E♭
  3. A♭
  4. D♭
  5. G♭
  6. C♭
  7. F♭

This signature uses the first 4 of them: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭.

The notes of the key

These are the notes of the major scale on this tonic. See the A♭ major scale for the degrees and step pattern.

A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G

The seven diatonic chords

Build a triad on each degree using only notes from the key and the qualities fall into a fixed pattern. That pattern is the same in every major key, which is why progressions transpose so cleanly.

DegreeRomanChordNotesFunction
1IA♭A♭ – C – E♭Tonic
2iiB♭mB♭ – D♭ – FPredominant
3iiiCmC – E♭ – GTonic
4IVD♭D♭ – F – A♭Predominant
5VE♭E♭ – G – B♭Dominant
6viFmF – A♭ – CTonic
7vii°GdimG – B♭ – D♭Dominant

Adding sevenths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of the key.

RomanChordNotes
IA♭maj7A♭ – C – E♭ – G
iiB♭m7B♭ – D♭ – F – A♭
iiiCm7C – E♭ – G – B♭
IVD♭maj7D♭ – F – A♭ – C
V7E♭7E♭ – G – B♭ – D♭
viFm7F – A♭ – C – E♭
vii°Gm7♭5G – B♭ – D♭ – F

Common progressions in A♭ major

These are the same shapes you meet in every major key, written with this key’s chords.

I – V – vi – IV

  1. A♭ITonic
  2. E♭VDominant
  3. FmviTonic
  4. D♭IVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

  1. A♭ITonic
  2. FmviTonic
  3. D♭IVPredominant
  4. E♭VDominant

ii – V – I

  1. B♭miiPredominant
  2. E♭VDominant
  3. A♭ITonic

Related keys

RelationshipKeySignature
Relative minorF minorSame signature
Parallel minorA♭ minor7 flats
One step sharpwardsE♭ majorOne more sharp
One step flatwardsD♭ majorOne more flat
Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.

Related

All major keys