Ab Blues Scale

Play A flat-C flat-D flat-E double flat-E flat-G flat-A flat. Leave out E double flat and you have Ab minor pentatonic: A flat-C flat-D flat-E flat-G flat. That is the fastest way to remember the six-note set. The notes A flat-C flat-E flat form the tonic minor chord.

E double flat is played on the piano key labeled D. It is written as a lowered E because E flat is the fifth above A flat; lowering that fifth again produces the added note.

Try D flat-E double flat-E flat and then D flat-E flat. The first version passes through a point of tension; the second skips over it. How long you stay on E double flat can matter as much as whether you include it.

Play D flat-E double flat-E flat three times, first slowly and then with E double flat very short. You are shaping one movement into the fifth, not adding a new chord.

This six-note list is a practical entry to blues phrasing, not a complete rule for the style. A singer or guitarist can bend pitches between piano keys. Over Ab7, the minor third C flat can also rub against the chord's major third C; listen to the accompaniment when you sustain it. Pentatonic and Blues Scales explains how the note set and the played phrase differ.