A Flat Major 7 Guitar Chord Lesson

In the following tutorial, you will learn how to play the Ab7 Guitar Chord (also known as A Flat Dominant 7, A Flat Dominant 7th).  There are 3 voicings or variations of this chord below (see the chord charts).  These chords are a bit challenging to play if you are just beginning as some do require barre and muting techniques that you may not have mastered as of yet.  Give them a try though.  It’s always a good idea to challenge your self to take your playing to another level.

This chord is found in the Ab Major Scale: Ab – Bb – C – Db – Eb – F – G.  To find the notes that make up this chord, we apply a simple little formula:  1, 3, 5, 7.  This just means that we take the 1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th steps of the Ab Scale.  When we do this, we come up with the notes: Ab, C, Eb and Gb.

Ab7 Notes: Ab, C, Eb and Gb

Here is a key that will help you read the charts:

Everything on the above chart should be self explanatory, except for the last three in the third column. They may need a bit of explaining. The O, or open symbol, simply means that you do not press down on any notes on that string. The X means you do not strum that particular string. The Barre symbol means you need to barre that particular fret. When you barre a fret you are pressing down on multiple strings at the same time with one finger.

Chord Playing Tips

Be sure that you are pressing down on the strings hard enough and play each string one at a time to make sure you have a nice clean sound. If any of the strings buzz or sound muted, then something is not right.