# E♭ Minor 6th piano chord (E♭m6)

E♭m6 contains E♭, G♭, B♭ and C. A minor triad with the sixth added on top. E♭, G♭ and B♭ are black keys; C is white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/minor-6th/e-flat/
- Entity: chord:minor-6th:e-flat
- Notes: E♭ G♭ B♭ C
- Formula: 1 ♭3 5 6
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, P5, M6
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 4 2
- Also written: E♭m6, Ebm6, E♭ minor 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♭ | Minor third | 3 |
| 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 G♭3 B♭3 C4 | 7 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| First inversion (E♭m6/G♭) | G♭ | G♭3 B♭3 C4 E♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (E♭m6/B♭) | B♭ | B♭3 C4 E♭4 G♭4 | 4/3 | 8 st, 110 mm |
| Third inversion (E♭m6/C) | C | C4 E♭4 G♭4 B♭4 | 4/2 | 10 st, 138 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | E♭3 G♭3 B♭3 C4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | G♭3 B♭3 C4 E♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | B♭3 C4 E♭4 G♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | C4 E♭4 G♭4 B♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | B♭2 E♭3 G♭3 C4 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | G♭2 E♭3 B♭3 C4 | 18 st, 248 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | E♭2 B♭2 G♭3 C4 | 21 st, 289 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root 6 ♭3 | E♭2 C3 G♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits B♭ |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and 6 | G♭3 C4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits E♭ and B♭ |
| Rootless close | G♭3 B♭3 C4 | 6 st, 83 mm | subset | omits E♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| E♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | drops C | 3 |
| E♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | C becomes D♭ | 3 |
| E♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | C becomes D | 3 |
| E♭dim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | B♭ becomes B♭♭ | 3 |
| E♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | G♭ becomes G | 3 |
| E♭m9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | C becomes D♭, F | 3 |
| E♭ | 1 3 5 | G♭, C becomes G | 2 |
| E♭dim | 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♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | G♭, C becomes G, D | 2 |
| E♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | G♭, C becomes G, D♭ | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {3, 6, 10, 0}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 7, 9]
- Normal order: [10, 0, 3, 6]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| G♭3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |
| C4 | 60 | 261.63 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in E♭m6?

E♭m6 contains E♭, G♭, B♭ and C. The formula is 1, ♭3, 5, 6.

### How do you play E♭m6 on piano?

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

### What are the inversions of E♭m6?

4 positions: root position E♭ G♭ B♭ C, E♭m6/G♭, E♭m6/B♭, E♭m6/C.

### What is the difference between E♭m6 and E♭m?

Drops C. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy E♭m6 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and 6 voicing, G♭3 C4, spans 6 semitones or about 83 mm.

### What are the frequencies of E♭m6?

From E♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 155.56, 185.00, 233.08, 261.63 Hz.

### What is the set class of E♭m6?

Prime form (0258), Forte 4-27, interval vector &lt;012111&gt;.

### How do I transpose E♭m6 to another key?

Keep the 1, ♭3, 5, 6 formula on the new root. Cm6 is C, E♭, G, A; C♯m6 is C♯, E, G♯, A♯.

### Is D♯m6 the same as E♭m6?

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:minor-6th:e-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12