What notes are in the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord?

The Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord contains the notes Ab · C · Fb · G: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 3M, 6m, 7M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Ab, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord?

Measured from Ab, the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 6m, 7M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

How do I play the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord?

On guitar the most common Ab Major seventh flat sixth shape is 432010, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · C4 · Fb4 · G4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

Ab Major Seventh Flat Sixth Chord (Abmaj7b6)

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Ab3 · C4 · Fb4 · G4
Open (drop 2)	Fb3 · Ab3 · C4 · G4
Shell	Ab3 · C4 · G4
Rootless	C3 · Fb3 · G3

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Ab Major seventh flat sixth (Abmaj7b6) contains the notes Ab · C · Fb · G, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords

Inversions

An inversion of Ab Major seventh flat sixth puts a chord tone other than Ab in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Ab Major seventh flat sixth belongs to.

In which keys

Ab Major seventh flat sixth is diatonic to 1 key; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

F minorIIImaj7b6Tonic

Scales that contain it

Ab Major seventh flat sixth fits inside these scales, each built on Ab.

Ab Harmonic MajorAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · Fb · G
Ab AugmentedAb · B · C · Eb · E · G
Ab Lydian AugmentedAb · Bb · C · D · E · F · G
Ab Augmented HeptatonicAb · B · C · Db · Eb · E · G
Ab Leading Whole ToneAb · Bb · C · D · E · Gb · G
Ab Major AugmentedAb · Bb · C · Db · E · F · G
Ab Bebop MajorAb · Bb · C · Db · Eb · E · F · G
Ab Messiaen's Mode #6Ab · Bb · C · Db · D · E · F# · G

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Ab Major seventh flat sixth: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

AbaugAb · C · E

Richer

Abmaj9#5Ab · C · E · G · Bb

Major seventh flat sixth on every root

Cmaj7b6 C#maj7b6 Dmaj7b6 Ebmaj7b6 Emaj7b6 Fmaj7b6 F#maj7b6 Gmaj7b6 Amaj7b6 Bbmaj7b6 Bmaj7b6

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Understanding the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord

Names and symbols

Abmaj7b6 is the chord symbol for Ab Major seventh flat sixth; it is also written AbM7b6, Ab^7b6.

maj7, M7, Δ7, ma7 and ^7 all mean the major seventh. A lowercase m7 is a different chord, the minor seventh, so the capital letter and the triangle are the only things keeping the two apart on a chart.

Common questions

What notes are in the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord?: The Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord contains the notes Ab · C · Fb · G: the root Ab with the intervals 1P, 3M, 6m, 7M stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Ab, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord?: Measured from Ab, the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3M, 6m, 7M. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.
How do I play the Ab Major seventh flat sixth chord?: On guitar the most common Ab Major seventh flat sixth shape is 432010, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play Ab3 · C4 · Fb4 · G4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.