Julie Swihart

Major Key Chords

Let’s find all the chords for the key of A flat major on the piano. We can use these chords to create chord progressions and play creatively in the key of A flat.

How to Find Chords for A Flat

To find the chords for A flat, we’ll first need to build an A flat major scale (learn how to build a major scale here).

The notes for an A flat major scale are:

A♭ – B♭ – C – D♭ – E♭ – F – G – A♭

Now we’ll build a “1 – 3 – 5” chord off each note of the scale, using only the notes of the scale to build the chords.

Starting on A♭, we’ll count “1 – 3 – 5” to build our first chord, using only the notes of the scale. When we do, we get: A♭ – C – E♭

Then starting on B♭, we’ll build another “1 – 3 – 5” chord using only the notes of the scale: B♭ – D♭ – F

Next we’ll start on C and build another “1 – 3 – 5” chord using only the notes of the scale: C – E♭ – G

We can continue this pattern, building a “1 – 3 – 5” chord off each note of the scale, using only the notes of the scale to build the chords.

Chords for Major Keys Printable

This 20-page PDF will help you learn the chords for every major key! Use these chords to build chord progressions and play creatively.

Get the Printable

Chords for the Key of A Flat Major

The chords for the key of A flat major are:

A♭ – C – E♭ = A♭ major chord

B♭ – D♭ – F = B♭ minor chord

C – E♭ – G = C minor chord

D♭ – F – A♭ = D♭ major chord

E♭ – G – B♭ = E♭ major chord

F – A♭ – C = F minor chord

G – B♭ – D♭ = G diminished chord

Other Major Key Chords

You can find chords for the other major keys below:

C Major Chords
G Major Chords
D Major Chords
A Major Chords
E Major Chords
B Major Chords
F Sharp Major Chords
C Sharp Major Chords
F Major Chords
B Flat Major Chords
E Flat Major Chords
D Flat Major Chords
G Flat Major Chords
C Flat Major Chords

How to Label the Chords

You may have noticed the chords we built were either major, minor or diminished, and you may be wondering how we know the difference. It depends on the intervals used to build the chords (learn about intervals here).

But to summarize, there are actually four types of “1 – 3 – 5” chords, or triads:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished

Major chords are built using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Minor chords are major chords with the middle note lowered 1/2 step.

Augmented chords are major chords with the upper-note raised 1/2 step.

Diminished chords are minor chords with the upper-note lowered 1/2 step.

When we build a chord off each note of the major scale, using only the notes of the scale to build the chords, we’ll always get these chords in this order:

Major
Minor
Minor
Major
Major
Minor
Diminished

You can use this pattern to find the chords for any major key on the piano!

Primary Chords for A Flat Major

Each major key has three “primary” chords. We can find the primary chords for any major key by building a chord off the first, fourth and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

The primary chords for the key of A flat major are:

A♭ major
D♭ major
E♭ major

We’ll use these chords often when playing in the key of A flat.

Conclusion

Now you know how to find chords for the key of A flat major on the piano, and you can use that pattern to find chords for any major key!

Using patterns to learn the piano lays a wonderful foundation for playing creatively and freely!