How to Play Ab7 on Piano

The Ab Dominant 7th chord sounds restless and bluesy. It stacks 4 notes: Ab – C – Eb – Gb.

A major triad plus a flattened seventh. The tritone between its third and seventh is what makes it lean so hard toward the chord a fourth above.

Notes in Ab7

NoteIntervalFinger
AbAb4Root1
CC5Major 3rd2
EbEb5Perfect 5th3
GbGb5Minor 7th5

How to Play

Right Hand

Place your thumb (finger 1) on Ab. Use finger 2 on C, finger 3 on Eb, and finger 5 on Gb.

Where it sits

3 notes of this chord (Ab, Eb, Gb) are on black keys, so play it a little further back on the keys than an all-white shape.

Press all 4 keys at the same time. Keep your wrist relaxed and your fingers curved. The blue dots on the piano below show exactly which keys to press — they turn green when you play the right note.

Other Dominant 7th Chords

C7
C – E – G – Bb
Db7
Db – F – Ab – Cb
D7
D – F# – A – C
Eb7
Eb – G – Bb – Db
E7
E – G# – B – D
F7
F – A – C – Eb
F#7
F# – A# – C# – E
G7
G – B – D – F
A7
A – C# – E – G
Bb7
Bb – D – F – Ab
B7
B – D# – F# – A

Other Ab Chords

Ab6
Ab – C – Eb – F
Ab9
Ab – C – Eb – Gb – Bb
Ab
Ab – C – Eb
Abmaj7
Ab – C – Eb – G
Abaug
Ab – C – E
Absus2
Ab – Bb – Eb
Absus4
Ab – Db – Eb
Abadd9
Ab – C – Eb – Bb