Ab Harmonic Minor Scale — Notes, Chords & Free MIDI

Natural minor with the seventh raised back up, which leaves a three-semitone leap between the sixth and seventh degrees and turns the v chord into a dominant V. In Ab Harmonic Minor the notes are Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, G, written with 7 flats (Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Cb, Fb), plus G written in. Its relative major is Cb Major. The interval that gives it its sound is the augmented second between b6 and 7. This page presets the scale tool to Ab Harmonic Minor — play it, or download it as MIDI with or without the chords.

The notes of the Ab Harmonic Minor scale

Chords in the key of Ab Harmonic Minor

Stack a third and a fifth from the scale on every degree and you get the chords that belong to this key. Tick diatonic chords before downloading to put all 7 of them in the MIDI file after the scale itself.

Related keys

• Cb Major — relative major — the key signature this scale is written with
• Ab Major — parallel major — the same tonic, a different third

Where the Harmonic Minor scale is used

classical minor-key writing, neoclassical metal, flamenco, Middle Eastern and Balkan music, and anything wanting a strong pull home.

How it works

Choose a root note and a scale, and this tool builds a MIDI file containing the scale played ascending and descending in quarter notes. Enable diatonic chords to also include the triad built on every degree of the scale — a quick way to hear which chords belong to a key. Press play preview to hear the exact notes before downloading. This page arrives preset to Ab Harmonic Minor, so the preview and the download both start on Ab4 and climb through the scale from there.

What can you do with a scale MIDI file?

• Drag it into your DAW as a reference lane while writing melodies.
• Learn unfamiliar scales — modes, pentatonics, harmonic minor — by seeing them on a piano roll.
• Feed it to arpeggiators or samplers that expect incoming MIDI.

A Ab Harmonic Minor reference lane earns its keep fast: with Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, G laid out on the piano roll, one glance tells you whether a note in your melody belongs to the scale or is a deliberate colour tone.

Want full generated tracks instead of raw scales? Open the MIDI Maker studio and let the generator write melodies in Ab Harmonic Minor for you.

The harmonic minor scale in every key

• C Harmonic Minor
• Db Harmonic Minor
• D Harmonic Minor
• Eb Harmonic Minor
• E Harmonic Minor
• F Harmonic Minor
• Gb Harmonic Minor
• G Harmonic Minor
• A Harmonic Minor
• Bb Harmonic Minor
• B Harmonic Minor

More scales starting on Ab

• Ab Major
• Ab Dorian
• Ab Phrygian
• Ab Lydian
• Ab Mixolydian
• Ab Minor
• Ab Locrian
• Ab Major Pentatonic
• Ab Minor Pentatonic
• Ab Blues
• Ab Melodic Minor

Or head back to the scale to MIDI tool to build any combination yourself.

Keep building: chords, drums and more

• I–V–vi–IV in Ab Major
• vi–IV–I–V in Ab Major
• I–IV–V–IV in Ab Major
• I–vi–IV–V in Ab Major
• ii–V–I in Ab Major
• I–vi–ii–V in Ab Major
• Drum MIDI generator
• Audio to MIDI converter

Frequently asked questions

What notes are in the Ab Harmonic Minor scale?

The Ab Harmonic Minor scale contains 7 notes: Ab, Bb, Cb, Db, Eb, Fb, G. Measured against the major scale that is 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7, and the step pattern is W H W W H W+H H. The MIDI file plays them ascending and descending in quarter notes starting from Ab4.

What chords are in the key of Ab Harmonic Minor?

Stacking thirds on each degree gives i Abm, ii° Bb°, bIII+ Cb+, iv Dbm, V Eb, bVI Fb, vii° G°. Tick "diatonic chords" before downloading and the MIDI file includes all 7 of them after the scale.

Is this Ab Harmonic Minor MIDI file free to use?

Yes — the download is free, requires no sign-up, and the generated MIDI is royalty-free for personal and commercial projects. A scale is not copyrightable in any case.

How do I use the scale MIDI in my DAW?

Drag the downloaded .mid file onto an instrument track in any DAW (Ableton Live, FL Studio, Logic Pro, Cubase, Reaper, Bitwig, Studio One). It appears on the piano roll as regular notes you can edit, transpose, or feed into an arpeggiator.