Eb minor chord on piano

The Ebm piano chord (Eb minor, also written D# minor) is three notes: E♭, G♭ and B♭. Start on E♭, count three half steps up to G♭, then four more to B♭.

  • E♭root, 1
  • G♭minor 3rd, ♭3
  • B♭perfect 5th, 5
E♭1G♭3B♭5

Fingers are numbered from the thumb, 1, to the little finger, 5. Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

How to play Eb minor on piano

  1. Find E♭, the second black key of a group of two.
  2. Put your right thumb (finger 1) on E♭.
  3. Count three half steps up, black and white keys alike, to G♭. Rest your middle finger (3) there.
  4. Count four more half steps to B♭ for your little finger (5).
  5. Press all three keys together.
  6. For the left hand, play the same keys with fingers 5, 3 and 1, or play E♭ an octave lower with your little finger.

Inversions

  1. E♭1G♭3B♭5

    Root position

    E♭, G♭, B♭

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  2. G♭1B♭2E♭5

    1st inversion

    G♭, B♭, E♭

    Right hand 1, 2, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  3. B♭1E♭3G♭5

    2nd inversion

    B♭, E♭, G♭

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 2, 1.

Practice Eb minor

Hold each position of E♭ minor for four beats, then move to the next: root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, and round again. Start at 60 beats a minute and move up toward 100 once every change lands on the beat.

E♭G♭B♭
  1. Root positionE♭–G♭–B♭
  2. 1st inversionG♭–B♭–E♭
  3. 2nd inversionB♭–E♭–G♭

The shape of Eb minor

Eb minor is all black keys, the only minor chord that is.

Eb minor is built from the E♭ natural minor scale: take its 1st, 3rd and 5th notes, skipping every other note.

  1. E♭1
  2. F2
  3. G♭3
  4. A♭4
  5. B♭5
  6. C♭6
  7. D♭7

Smooth changes from Eb minor

Jumping from one root position chord to the next moves the whole hand. The right inversion keeps shared notes still and moves the others the shortest way. Below are the chords built on the 4th and 5th notes of Eb minor's own key: Abm and Bb.

  • C♭E♭A♭

    From Ebm to Abm, play Abm in 2nd inversion (E♭–A♭–C♭): E♭ stays, G♭ moves up two half steps to A♭ and B♭ moves up a half step to C♭ (the white key usually called B).

  • DFB♭

    From Ebm to Bb, play Bb in 1st inversion (D–F–B♭): E♭ moves down a half step to D, G♭ moves down a half step to F and B♭ stays.

Eb minor on the staff and on guitar

♭♭♭
On the treble staff, E♭ sits on the bottom line, G♭ on the second line and B♭ on the middle line.
××1342E♭B♭E♭G♭
Dm shape, 1st fretFrets, low E to high E: x x 1 3 4 2
6fr×13421E♭B♭E♭G♭B♭
Am shape, 6th fretFrets, low E to high E: x 6 8 8 7 6

Keys with Eb minor in them

  • D♭ majoriiD♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, A♭, B♭m, Cdim
  • C♯ majoriiC♯, D♯m, E♯m, F♯, G♯, A♯m, B♯dim
  • G♭ majorviG♭, A♭m, B♭m, C♭, D♭, E♭m, Fdim
  • F♯ majorviF♯, G♯m, A♯m, B, C♯, D♯m, E♯dim
  • B majoriiiB, C♯m, D♯m, E, F♯, G♯m, A♯dim
  • E♭ minoriE♭m, Fdim, G♭, A♭m, B♭m, C♭, D♭
  • G♯ minorvG♯m, A♯dim, B, C♯m, D♯m, E, F♯
  • B♭ minorivB♭m, Cdim, D♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭, A♭

Progressions that use it

  • i–VI–III–VII, in E♭ minor

    1. iE♭m
    2. VIC♭
    3. IIIG♭
    4. VIID♭

  • i–iv–v, in E♭ minor

    1. iE♭m
    2. ivA♭m
    3. vB♭m

  • i–VII–VI–V (Andalusian cadence), in E♭ minor

    1. iE♭m
    2. VIID♭
    3. VIC♭
    4. VB♭

  • iiø7–V7–i, in E♭ minor

    1. iiø7Fm7♭5
    2. V7B♭7
    3. iE♭m

Related chords

Hearing a chord you can't name? Press its keys in the chord identifier.

Save or print the Eb minor chord chart

Eb minor chord on piano keyboard, notes E♭ G♭ B♭
Download the Eb minor chord chart (PNG). Free to print and share. For every chord on one page, see the piano chord chart.

Practice notes for Eb minor

E♭ minor is the only minor chord on all black keys: E♭, G♭ and B♭. Like F♯ major, it can feel surprisingly natural once the hand sits forward over the raised keys.

Where it goes wrong. The fingers drop into the gaps between the black keys. Move the whole hand toward the fallboard, curve the fingers, and play each black key in the middle of its length. E♭ is the second black key of a group of two, G♭ the first of the group of three, and B♭ the third.

How to practice it. Play E♭ minor, then D♯ minor: the same three keys spelled D♯, F♯, A♯. Then practice the change to A♭ minor in 2nd inversion (E♭–A♭–C♭): the thumb stays on E♭, and the little finger moves to C♭, the white key usually called B.

What to listen for. Pressed from high above, black keys can sound hard. Start close to the keys and press down, and listen for all three notes together.

What to learn next. E♭ major, where G♭ rises to the white G, and the relative major, G♭ major, which uses the same notes.

Questions

What notes are in a Eb minor chord?

E♭, G♭ and B♭. E♭ is the root, G♭ is a minor 3rd above it and B♭ is a perfect 5th above it.

How is Eb minor different from Eb major?

Only the middle note changes. Eb major raises G♭ a half step to G; the other two notes stay.

Is Eb minor the same as D# minor?

Yes. On the piano they are the same three keys. Eb minor is spelled E♭, G♭ and B♭; D# minor is spelled D♯, F♯ and A♯. Which name a piece uses depends on its key signature.

What does Ebm mean?

The small m means minor: E♭m is Eb minor, E♭, G♭ and B♭. You may also see it written E♭min or E♭−.