E♭ major chord
Home in E♭ major, and the V that pulls toward A♭.
- How it sounds
- Bright and settled. E♭ to G is four frets, and that gap gives it its warmth, while B♭ on top holds it steady. There’s no open grip. The lowest of its five grips is the D form, at the 1st fret.
- Where it lives
- The I of E♭ major, the IV of B♭ major and the V of A♭ major. In E♭ major it’s home; in A♭ major it pulls the song back to A♭. In G♯ harmonic minor it’s the V, and its third, F𝄪, is the raised seventh that leads back to G♯. In G♯ harmonic minor the same chord is written D♯. Jazz, big band, soul and funk, where the horns make E♭ an everyday key. Guitarists who tune down a half step, as Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan did, get it from the open E shape.
Voicings across the neck
E♭, G and B♭ can be played in five places on the neck, each built from a different open chord shape. Neighbouring forms share a root, so each one hands over to the next, and together they run from the 1st to the 14th fret before the cycle starts again. The D form at the 1st fret uses only the top four, which keeps it small and light. The E form at the 11th is the fullest barre, all six strings.
- High E string: G at fret 3
- B string: E♭ at fret 4
- G string: B♭ at fret 3
- D string: E♭ at fret 1
- A string: not played
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: G at fret 3
- B string: E♭ at fret 4
- G string: B♭ at fret 3
- D string: G at fret 5
- A string: E♭ at fret 6
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: B♭ at fret 6
- B string: G at fret 8
- G string: E♭ at fret 8
- D string: B♭ at fret 8
- A string: E♭ at fret 6
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: E♭ at fret 11
- B string: G at fret 8
- G string: E♭ at fret 8
- D string: B♭ at fret 8
- A string: G at fret 10
- Low E string: E♭ at fret 11
- High E string: E♭ at fret 11
- B string: B♭ at fret 11
- G string: G at fret 12
- D string: E♭ at fret 13
- A string: B♭ at fret 13
- Low E string: E♭ at fret 11
Formula
| Intervals | Notes | Semitones |
|---|---|---|
| R · M3 · P5: what each interval does in a chord | E♭ · G · B♭ | 4 + 3 |
E♭ major is a root, a major third and a perfect fifth: E♭, G and B♭, taken from the E♭ major scale by skipping every other note. Four then three is what makes a chord major. Turn the gaps round, three then four, and you get E♭ minor: E♭, G♭, B♭.
In these keys and scales
E♭ major turns up in twelve scales on the site, and the job it does depends on the scale. In E♭ major it’s the I, home. In A♭ major and G♯ harmonic minor (written D♯ there) it’s the V, the chord that pulls back home. In C minor it’s the III, the relative major inside the minor key, and as the VI of G minor it’s a warm step away from home. The numeral beside each scale names the job, and the name opens that scale’s page.
| Family | Scales |
|---|---|
| Major | |
| Natural minor | |
| Harmonic minor | |
| Melodic minor | |
| Pentatonic |
Progressions
A lot of progressions in E♭ major start on E♭, and nearly all of them come back to it. In I–IV–V the other two chords keep returning to it. In I–V–vi–IV it opens the loop, and A♭ at the end leads back round to it. V–I turns it the other way: there E♭ is the V, and it resolves to A♭.