guitar scale
A♭ Dorian
A♭1B♭2C♭♭3D♭4E♭5F6G♭♭7
Minor with a natural sixth. The second mode of the major scale.
The same sounds spelled from the other side are G♯ Dorian.
Written out
Every accidental is written in, rather than left to a key signature, so the letters can be read one at a time.
The step pattern
A♭WB♭HC♭WD♭WE♭WFHG♭WA♭
What is true of it
A♭ Dorian is A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F and G♭, and back to A♭.
Its steps are W – H – W – W – W – H – W, where W is a whole step and H a half.
It costs 6 alterations to write — near the limit of what a key signature can carry.
On the same tonic, A♭ natural minor differs from it by exactly one note.
Across the first twelve frets of the guitar its notes fall in 43 places, which is what makes a scale a shape rather than a list.
Chords made only of these notes
D♭majorD♭7dominant seventhE♭mminorE♭m7minor seventhFdimdiminishedFm7♭5half-diminished seventhG♭majorG♭maj7major seventh
Found by testing every chord in the catalogue against these 7 sounds, not chosen.