# E♭ Major 6th piano chord (E♭6)

E♭6 contains E♭, G, B♭ and C. A major triad with the sixth added on top. E♭ and B♭ are black keys; G and C are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/major-6th/e-flat/
- Entity: chord:major-6th:e-flat
- Notes: E♭ G B♭ C
- Formula: 1 3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, M3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 4 3 2
- Also written: E♭6, Eb6, E♭ major 6th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | E♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 3 | G | Major third | 4 |
| 5 | B♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |
| 6 | C | Major sixth | 9 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on E♭, finger 3 on G, finger 4 on B♭, finger 5 on C. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | E♭ | E♭3 G3 B♭3 C4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (E♭6/G) | G | G3 B♭3 C4 E♭4 | 6/5 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Second inversion (E♭6/B♭) | B♭ | B♭3 C4 E♭4 G4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (E♭6/C) | C | C4 E♭4 G4 B♭4 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | E♭3 G3 B♭3 C4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | G3 B♭3 C4 E♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | B♭3 C4 E♭4 G4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | C4 E♭4 G4 B♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | B♭2 E♭3 G3 C4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | G2 E♭3 B♭3 C4 | 17 st, 234 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | E♭2 B♭2 G3 C4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 3 | E♭2 C3 G3 | 16 st, 220 mm | subset | omits B♭ |
| Guide tones, 3 and 6 | G3 C4 | 5 st, 69 mm | subset | omits E♭ and B♭ |
| Rootless close | G3 B♭3 C4 | 5 st, 69 mm | subset | omits E♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| E♭ | 1 3 5 | drops C | 3 |
| E♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | C becomes D | 3 |
| E♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | C becomes D♭ | 3 |
| E♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | G becomes G♭ | 3 |
| E♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | C becomes F | 3 |
| E♭maj9 | 1 3 5 7 9 | C becomes D, F | 3 |
| E♭9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | C becomes D♭, F | 3 |
| E♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | G, C becomes G♭ | 2 |
| E♭aug | 1 3 ♯5 | B♭, C becomes B | 2 |
| E♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | G, C becomes F | 2 |
| E♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | G, C becomes A♭ | 2 |
| E♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | G, C becomes G♭, D♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {3, 7, 10, 0}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 4, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [7, 10, 0, 3]
- Prime form: (0358)
- Forte number: 4-26
- Interval vector: <012120>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| G3 | 55 | 196.00 Hz |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in E♭6?

E♭6 contains E♭, G, B♭ and C. The formula is 1, 3, 5, 6.

### How do you play E♭6 on piano?

Play E♭, G, B♭ and C together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. E♭ and B♭ are black keys; G and C are white.

### What are the inversions of E♭6?

4 positions: root position E♭ G B♭ C, E♭6/G, E♭6/B♭, E♭6/C.

### What is the difference between E♭6 and E♭?

Drops C. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy E♭6 for small hands?

The guide tones, 3 and 6 voicing, G3 C4, spans 5 semitones or about 69 mm.

### What are the frequencies of E♭6?

From E♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 155.56, 196.00, 233.08, 261.63 Hz.

### What is the set class of E♭6?

Prime form (0358), Forte 4-26, interval vector &lt;012120&gt;.

### How do I transpose E♭6 to another key?

Keep the 1, 3, 5, 6 formula on the new root. C6 is C, E, G, A; C♯6 is C♯, E♯, G♯, A♯.

### Is D♯6 the same as E♭6?

Enharmonically yes: the same piano keys and the same sound, spelled differently.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:major-6th:e-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12