Eb guitar chord: 4 ways to play Eb major (D#)

Ways to play E♭

Lowest on the neck first. Tap a shape to put it on the fretboard above and hear it. The numbers are fingers (1 is your index), × means leave that string out, and ○ means let it ring open.

What's in E♭

A major chord stacks a major 3rd (four half steps) and a perfect 5th (seven half steps) on the root. For E♭ that gives E♭, G and B♭. Every shape below is some arrangement of those three notes, with a few doubled in another octave.

Note	Formula	Interval from E♭
E♭	1	Root
G	3	Major 3rd
B♭	5	Perfect 5th

Major chords sound settled and bright. They are the I, IV and V of every major key, which is why so many songs get by on three of them.

The key of E♭ major

Three flats. A horn-section key: saxophones and trumpets like it. Guitarists who tune down a half step play it with open E shapes.

The seven chords built from the E♭ major scale:

IE♭
iiFm
iiiGm
IVA♭
VB♭
viCm
vii°Ddim

Songs in E♭ major

Your Song, Elton John

Keys that use E♭

Every major and minor key whose scale contains all of E♭, G and B♭, and the chord's Roman numeral in each. Minor keys marked harmonic get the chord from the raised 7th of the harmonic minor scale.

Key	E♭ is the
E♭ major	I
B♭ major	IV
A♭ major	V
G♯ minor (harmonic)	V
G minor	VI
C minor	III
F minor	VII

Progressions to try

I–IV–V in E♭ major

The three-chord backbone of folk, blues and early rock and roll.

I–V–vi–IV in E♭ major

The loop under a huge share of pop songs since the 1980s.

I–vi–IV–V in E♭ major

The 1950s doo-wop progression. Same chords as above, different order, very different mood.

The relative minor is Cm, which shares its key signature. The parallel minor is E♭m, same root with the 3rd lowered.

Other chords on E♭:

See every chord in the library

E♭ major chord