A♭ minor
The minor key on the tonic A♭. It has seven flats in the key signature and the same notes as C♭ major.
A key with seven flats
A♭ minor shares all its notes with C♭ major. Because the key signature grows in the order of the fifths, as described on the page accidentals, it has seven ♭ here (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, C♭, F♭). In the notation of this glossary every note of the key signature is written as an accidental before the note, so that you can see the notes one by one.
Natural minor
The same notes as C♭ major, only the scale begins on the tonic of A♭ minor. The semitone steps lie between the second and third and between the fifth and sixth notes. Every note of the key signature is written here as an accidental before the note.
Harmonic minor
The seventh degree is raised by a semitone, here to G. This creates a leading tone a semitone below the tonic, and between the sixth and seventh degrees lies the augmented second.
The cadence
The cadence in the listening example links tonic, subdominant, dominant and tonic. In the minor cadence the dominant is a major chord, because it contains the leading tone, which pulls upwards to the tonic.
Enharmonics and rarity
G♯ minor is enharmonically equivalent, with only five sharps. A♭ minor is rare in practice; G♯ minor is usually written instead. This is enharmonic equivalence: on the piano the same keys serve for both spellings.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the accidentals: Every note has its accidental, even if it is not in the key signature.
- Confusing tonic and relative key: A♭ minor and C♭ major have the same notes but different tonics.
- Spelling: Write the note letter as a capital and the mode word in lowercase: “A♭ minor”.
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Related terms
MinorNatural minorHarmonic minorMelodic minorC♭ majorRelative keyCircle of fifthsAccidentalEnharmonic equivalence
Editor: Maik Krohm · reviewed on 3 October 2026
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