1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.
A♭7 (also written G♯7) is a dominant seventh chord made of 4 notes: A♭, C, E♭, G♭. It sounds restless; it wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below, and you hear it in blues, rock and roll, and the V chord that pulls a song back home. It is the V chord of D♭ major and turns up in 2 other keys.
The library above opens on A♭7 with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.
| Note | Degree | Interval from A♭ | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| A♭ | 1 | root | 0 |
| C | 3 | major third | 4 |
| E♭ | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| G♭ | ♭7 | minor seventh | 10 |
Formula: 1 – 3 – 5 – ♭7. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, G♯7 is G♯, B♯, D♯, F♯: the same sounds under different names.
464544x(11)(13)(11)(13)(11)xxx112434xxxxx657xx(11)(10)(11)xxEvery full shape of A♭7 needs a barre or a stretch. The easiest trick is a capo on the 1st fret: then play the open G7 shape (320001) and it sounds as A♭7. In many songs you can also swap in A♭maj7, A♭sus2, A♭sus4, which share most of its notes and need no barre. If you want the real thing, the e-shape barre at fret 4 shape is the gentlest start.
A♭7 belongs to 3 keys: V in D♭ major, V7 in C♯ minor, VII in B♭ minor. In D♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: D♭ – A♭7 – B♭m – G♭.
A♭, C, E♭, G♭: the root, major third, fifth, minor seventh.
E-shape barre at fret 4: 464544 (low string first), rated Medium. Or use a capo on the 1st fret and play an open G7 shape.
A♭7 has G♭ where A♭maj7 has G. A♭7 sounds restless; it wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below; A♭maj7 sounds dreamy, warm and a little wistful.
It needs a barre in every shape, so it takes some practice. Start with the e-shape barre at fret 4 shape, rated Medium.