# E♭ Major 7th piano chord (E♭maj7)

E♭maj7 contains E♭, G, B♭ and D. A major triad with the major seventh added on top. E♭ and B♭ are black keys; G and D are white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/major-7th/e-flat/
- Entity: chord:major-7th:e-flat
- Notes: E♭ G B♭ D
- Formula: 1 3 5 7
- Intervals from root: P1, M3, P5, M7
- Interval stack (semitones): 4 3 4
- Also written: E♭maj7, Ebmaj7, E♭ major 7th
- 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 |
| 7 | D | Major seventh | 11 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on E♭, finger 3 on G, finger 4 on B♭, finger 5 on D. 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 D4 | 7 | 11 st, 151 mm |
| First inversion (E♭maj7/G) | G | G3 B♭3 D4 E♭4 | 6/5 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Second inversion (E♭maj7/B♭) | B♭ | B♭3 D4 E♭4 G4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (E♭maj7/D) | D | D4 E♭4 G4 B♭4 | 4/2 | 8 st, 110 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | E♭3 G3 B♭3 D4 | 11 st, 151 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | G3 B♭3 D4 E♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | B♭3 D4 E♭4 G4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | D4 E♭4 G4 B♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | B♭2 E♭3 G3 D4 | 16 st, 220 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | G2 E♭3 B♭3 D4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | E♭2 B♭2 G3 D4 | 23 st, 316 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 7 3 | E♭2 D3 G3 | 16 st, 220 mm | subset | omits B♭ |
| Guide tones, 3 and 7 | G3 D4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits E♭ and B♭ |
| Rootless close | G3 B♭3 D4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits E♭ |

## Diatonic function by key

| Key | Roman numeral | Function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C minor | ♭IIImaj7 | Relative-major color |
| E♭ major | Imaj7 | Tonic, home |
| G minor | ♭VImaj7 | Pre-dominant color |
| B♭ major | IVmaj7 | Subdominant, away from home |

Classification system: common-practice functional harmony.

## Progressions (9)

| Progression | Key | Role | Sequence | Voice leading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ♭III, ♭VI, ii, v | C minor | ♭IIImaj7 | E♭maj7 to A♭maj7 to Dm7♭5 to Gm7 | E♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭III | C minor | ♭IIImaj7 | Cm7 to E♭maj7 | 3 tones held from Cm7 |
| ii, V, I | E♭ major | Imaj7 | Fm7 to B♭7 to E♭maj7 | 2 tones held from B♭7 |
| IV, I | E♭ major | Imaj7 | A♭maj7 to E♭maj7 | 2 tones held from A♭maj7 |
| I, vi, ii, V | E♭ major | Imaj7 | E♭maj7 to Cm7 to Fm7 to B♭7 | E♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| ♭VI, iv, i, v | G minor | ♭VImaj7 | E♭maj7 to Cm7 to Gm7 to Dm7 | E♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| i, ♭VI | G minor | ♭VImaj7 | Gm7 to E♭maj7 | 3 tones held from Gm7 |
| IV, V, I | B♭ major | IVmaj7 | E♭maj7 to F7 to B♭maj7 | E♭maj7 opens the phrase |
| I, IV | B♭ major | IVmaj7 | B♭maj7 to E♭maj7 | 2 tones held from B♭maj7 |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| E♭maj9 | 1 3 5 7 9 | adds F | 4 |
| E♭ | 1 3 5 | drops D | 3 |
| E♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | D becomes D♭ | 3 |
| E♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | G becomes G♭ | 3 |
| E♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | D becomes C | 3 |
| E♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | D becomes F | 3 |
| E♭9 | 1 3 5 ♭7 9 | D becomes D♭, F | 3 |
| E♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | G, D becomes G♭ | 2 |
| E♭aug | 1 3 ♯5 | B♭, D becomes B | 2 |
| E♭sus2 | 1 2 5 | G, D becomes F | 2 |
| E♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | G, D becomes A♭ | 2 |
| E♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | G, D becomes G♭, D♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {3, 7, 10, 2}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 4, 7, 11]
- Normal order: [2, 3, 7, 10]
- Prime form: (0158)
- Forte number: 4-20
- Interval vector: <101220>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| G3 | 55 | 196.00 Hz |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |
| D4 | 62 | 293.66 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in E♭maj7?

E♭maj7 contains E♭, G, B♭ and D. The formula is 1, 3, 5, 7.

### How do you play E♭maj7 on piano?

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

### What are the inversions of E♭maj7?

4 positions: root position E♭ G B♭ D, E♭maj7/G, E♭maj7/B♭, E♭maj7/D.

### What keys contain E♭maj7?

4: ♭IIImaj7 in C minor, Imaj7 in E♭ major, ♭VImaj7 in G minor, IVmaj7 in B♭ major.

### What is the difference between E♭maj7 and E♭maj9?

Adds F. 4 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy E♭maj7 for small hands?

The guide tones, 3 and 7 voicing, G3 D4, spans 7 semitones or about 96 mm.

### What are the frequencies of E♭maj7?

From E♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 155.56, 196.00, 233.08, 293.66 Hz.

### What is the set class of E♭maj7?

Prime form (0158), Forte 4-20, interval vector &lt;101220&gt;.

### How do I transpose E♭maj7 to another key?

Keep the 1, 3, 5, 7 formula on the new root. Cmaj7 is C, E, G, B; C♯maj7 is C♯, E♯, G♯, B♯.

### Is D♯maj7 the same as E♭maj7?

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-7th:e-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12