Eb Major guitar chord
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About Eb — 2nd inversion
Eb is Eb, G and Bb.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
Eb notes and formula
| Eb | G | Bb |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Also written Ebmaj, EbM or Eb major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Eb
Eb in 2nd inversion puts Bb in the bass instead of Eb, the 5th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Eb’s 6 common shapes does this: x-x-8-8-8-11.
Start with xx1343 — no barre and down at the nut. None of the shapes for Eb uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 4 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx1343 | 1st fret | Eb, root position | G | all fretted |
| x65343 | 3rd fret | Eb, root position | G | all fretted |
| x68886 | 6th fret | Eb, root position | Bb | barred |
| 11-10-8-8-8-11 | 8th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | barred |
| x-x-8-8-8-11 | 8th fret | Bb, 2nd inversion | Eb | barred |
| 11-13-13-12-11-11 | 11th fret | Eb, root position | Eb | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 46 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Eb
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Eb 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 Eb belongs to C minor (the ♭III), Eb major (the I), F minor (the ♭VII), G minor (the ♭VI), Ab major (the V) and Bb major (the IV).
What to play over Eb
Every note of Eb is in Eb major pentatonic, Eb major, Eb lydian, Eb mixolydian and Eb lydian dominant.
Chords near Eb
Change one note of Eb and you have Ebm (the major third becomes a minor third), Ebsus2 (the major third becomes a ninth), Ebsus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Ebmaj7 (add the major seventh), Ebadd9 (add the ninth) or Eb5 (drop the major third).
Eb is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Eb’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.