Ebmaj7 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
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- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Ebmaj7 — open string voicings
Ebmaj7 is Eb, G, Bb and D — Eb with the major seventh added on top.
It sounds lush, and only just resolved. The everyday tonic of jazz, bossa and neo-soul.
Ebmaj7 notes and formula
| Eb | G | Bb | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 |
Tonic — a resting chord, but a soft one.
Also written EbM7, EbΔ7, EbΔ, Ebma7 or Eb major 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Ebmaj7
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Ebmaj7 has 5 of them, on the bottom four strings, the top four strings and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 3rd fret up to the 6th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass, Bb in the bass and D in the bass. The one to learn first is the G shape at the 3rd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with x-x-x-8-8-10 — no barre and only 3 fretted notes. None of the shapes for Ebmaj7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 5 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx1333 | 1st fret | Eb, root position | G | barred |
| x65333 | 3rd fret | Eb, root position | G | barred |
| x6574x | 4th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | all fretted |
| x68786 | 6th fret | Eb, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| x-x-x-8-8-10 | 8th fret | Eb, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-x-8-8-8-10 | 8th fret | Bb, 2nd inversion | D | barred |
| 11-13-12-12-11-11 | 11th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | barred |
| x-x-13-15-15-15 | 13th fret | Eb, root position | G | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 5 shell, 14 drop 2 and 9 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Ebmaj7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (F), the #11 (A) and the 13 (C).
How to use Ebmaj7
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Ebmaj7 is Fm7 to Bb7 — the ii and the V of Eb — and Bb7 shares its third and seventh with Fm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Ebmaj7 belongs to C minor (the ♭III), Eb major (the I, the tonic), G minor (the ♭VI) and Bb major (the IV, the subdominant).
What to play over Ebmaj7
Every note of Ebmaj7 is in Eb major and Eb lydian.
Chords near Ebmaj7
Change one note of Ebmaj7 and you have Eb (drop the major seventh), Ebmaj7b5 (the fifth becomes a flat fifth), Ebmaj7#5 (the fifth becomes a sharp fifth), Ebmaj9 (add the ninth), EbmMaj7 (the major third becomes a minor third) or Ebadd9 (the major seventh becomes a ninth).
Ebmaj7 is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Ebmaj7’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.