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A♭ whole tone pentatonic Scale — Guitar Fretboard Visualization

Low E string: Fb, Gb, Ab, C, Ebb, Fb at frets 0, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12

A string: C, Ebb, Fb, Gb, Ab at frets 3, 5, 7, 9, 11

D string: Ebb, Fb, Gb, Ab, C, Ebb at frets 0, 2, 4, 6, 10, 12

G string: Ab, C, Ebb, Fb, Gb at frets 1, 5, 7, 9, 11

B string: C, Ebb, Fb, Gb, Ab at frets 1, 3, 5, 7, 9

High E string: Fb, Gb, Ab, C, Ebb, Fb at frets 0, 2, 4, 8, 10, 12

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Ab whole tone pentatonic

The whole tone pentatonic extracts five notes from whole tone territory: root, major 3rd, flat 5th, flat 6th, flat 7th. Everything above the 3rd is drawn from the augmented and dominant-altered world, so it floats without resolving, useful over augmented triads and 7#5 chords or for impressionist, dreamlike passages.

it consists of these notes and degrees:

A♭

I

C

III

E𝄫

bV

F♭

bVI

G♭

bVII

whole tone pentatonic in all 12 keys, with chords and related scales

tip
  • Five notes, no anchor: root, III, b5 (D), b6 (E), b7 (Gb) float over augmented and 7#5 sounds without one wasted note.
  • Use it as a compressed altered color: over a dominant chord on Ab, b5 (D) and b6 (E) read as #11 and b13.
  • The major 3rd (C) is the only sweetness in the set; phrase toward it when the line needs a landing.
  • Try it against a plain minor chord a major 3rd below Ab for a polytonal shimmer that resolves by dropping one fret.

How to play A♭ whole tone pentatonic on guitar

Capo fret 1 hands you G fingering, so this key needs no shape you have not already played. Open D sits a diminished fifth from the root. Both E strings give the minor sixth, which means open ringing sits well away from the tonic. Roots land at 4 on both E strings, 1 on the G and 11 on the A, where box 1 also begins. Nothing above 8 belongs to the first shape, so the shift comes early.

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