Fig. 1 · Ab minor

key signature

A♭ minor

A♭1B♭2C♭3D♭4E♭5F♭6G♭7

7 flats, written B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭

relative: C♭ majorparallel: A♭ majorthe scale

The chords that live in it

A♭mdegree 1 · minorB♭dimdegree 2 · diminishedC♭degree 3 · majorD♭mdegree 4 · minorE♭mdegree 5 · minorF♭degree 6 · majorG♭degree 7 · major

Built by stacking thirds inside the scale and asking what quality comes out, rather than from a table of roman numerals.

What is true of it

A♭ minor has 7 flats.

They are written in this order, always: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭ F♭.

Its notes are A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭ and G♭.

Relative: C♭ major has the same 7 flats. Parallel: A♭ major has 4 flats, which is why changing mode changes the signature by three.

Every key

C♭ majorG♭ majorD♭ majorA♭ majorE♭ majorB♭ majorF majorC majorG majorD majorA majorE majorB majorF♯ majorC♯ majorE♭ minorB♭ minorF minorC minorG minorD minorA minorE minorB minorF♯ minorC♯ minorG♯ minorD♯ minorA♯ minor