About the A flat Bebop Harmonic Minor scale
A flat Bebop Harmonic Minor is used for bebop solos over minor chords. Think of it as a harmonic minor with a chromatic passing tone on top. It is A♭ Bebop Minor with the sixth lowered.
Its notes are A♭, B♭, C♭, D♭, E♭, F♭, G♭, and G. The formula is W H W W H W H H. It is the seventh mode of C♭ Bebop Major.
Also called Bebop Natural Minor and Utility Minor.
An unfretted guitar already sounds E, G, and B from the mode. The 4th fret of the low E string is the lowest A♭ on the neck. Placed at the first fret, a capo lets A♭ Bebop Harmonic Minor be played with G-shape fingerings.
Positions
Playable shapes for this scale up the neck. Tap any note to hear it.
8-position system
8 four-fret boxes, one per scale degree, each a single hand position with almost no shifting. The jazz and classical way, from William Leavitt's Berklee method.
Notes and intervals
| 1 | AbA♭ | Root |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | BbB♭ | Major 2nd |
| 3 | CbC♭ | Minor 3rd |
| 4 | DbD♭ | Perfect 4th |
| 5 | EbE♭ | Perfect 5th |
| 6 | FbF♭ | Minor 6th |
| 7 | GbG♭ | Minor 7th |
| 8 | GG | Major 7th |
| Steps | W H W W H W H H |
|---|---|
| Semitones | 2-1-2-2-1-2-1-1 |
| Degrees | 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 ♭7 7 |
Shapes
Chromatic
Circle of Fifths
Related scales
Bebop Harmonic Minor in other keys
Modes
The same notes, starting on a different note.
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