A♭

A♭1C3E♭5

A major third and a perfect fifth over the root.

Written the other way round it is G♯ — the same twelve keys on a piano, a different piece of notation.

on guitar on piano the scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

1043

easy · no 5

Fig. 3

104x

easy · no 5

Fig. 4

1343

moderate

Fig. 5

x886

easy

Fig. 6

x88b

moderate · barre · no 5

What is true of it

A♭ is A♭, C and E♭ — 1, 3 and 5 counted from A♭.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 3, the 5 goes first, in that order.

The easiest of the 5 fingerings below is 1043: 3 fingers, held at the 1st fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

1 of the 5 need a barre.

It leaves out the 5. 4 strings cannot carry 3 notes, and the 5 is the one this chord can lose without changing what it is.

Where its notes are on the neck

Fig. 7 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are A♭, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

A♭/C

5046

second inversion

A♭/E♭

888x

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

A♭ in other shapes

A♭mminor A♭dimdiminished A♭augaugmented A♭5power chord A♭sus2suspended second A♭sus4suspended fourth

C C♯D♭D D♯E♭E F all 374