# E♭ Suspended 2nd piano chord (E♭sus2)

E♭sus2 contains E♭, F and B♭. The third replaced by the second. E♭ and B♭ are black keys; F is white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/suspended-2nd/e-flat/
- Entity: chord:sus2:e-flat
- Notes: E♭ F B♭
- Formula: 1 2 5
- Intervals from root: P1, M2, P5
- Interval stack (semitones): 2 5
- Also written: E♭sus2, Ebsus2, E♭ suspended 2nd
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | E♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| 2 | F | Major second | 2 |
| 5 | B♭ | Perfect fifth | 7 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 1 on E♭, finger 3 on F, finger 5 on B♭. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 1-3-5, left hand 5-3-1. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | E♭ | E♭3 F3 B♭3 | 5/3 | 7 st, 96 mm |
| First inversion (E♭sus2/F) | F | F3 B♭3 E♭4 | 6/3 | 10 st, 138 mm |
| Second inversion (E♭sus2/B♭) | B♭ | B♭3 E♭4 F4 | 6/4 | 7 st, 96 mm |

## Voicings (5)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | E♭3 F3 B♭3 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | F3 B♭3 E♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | B♭3 E♭4 F4 | 7 st, 96 mm | identical | none |
| Open, fifth on top | E♭2 B♭2 F3 | 14 st, 193 mm | identical | none |
| Root and third only | E♭3 F3 | 2 st, 28 mm | subset | omits B♭ |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| E♭add9 | 1 3 5 9 | adds G | 3 |
| E♭ | 1 3 5 | F becomes G | 2 |
| E♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | F becomes G♭ | 2 |
| E♭sus4 | 1 4 5 | F becomes A♭ | 2 |
| E♭maj7 | 1 3 5 7 | F becomes G, D | 2 |
| E♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | F becomes G, D♭ | 2 |
| E♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | F becomes G♭, D♭ | 2 |
| E♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | F becomes G♭, D | 2 |
| E♭7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | F becomes A♭, D♭ | 2 |
| E♭6 | 1 3 5 6 | F becomes G, C | 2 |
| E♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | F becomes G♭, C | 2 |
| E♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | F, B♭ becomes G♭, B♭♭ | 1 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {3, 5, 10}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 2, 7]
- Normal order: [3, 5, 10]
- Prime form: (027)
- Forte number: 3-9
- Interval vector: <010020>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| F3 | 53 | 174.61 Hz |
| B♭3 | 58 | 233.08 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in E♭sus2?

E♭sus2 contains E♭, F and B♭. The formula is 1, 2, 5.

### How do you play E♭sus2 on piano?

Play E♭, F and B♭ together. Right hand fingers 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1. E♭ and B♭ are black keys; F is white.

### What are the inversions of E♭sus2?

3 positions: root position E♭ F B♭, E♭sus2/F, E♭sus2/B♭.

### What is the difference between E♭sus2 and E♭add9?

Adds G. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy E♭sus2 for small hands?

The root and third only voicing, E♭3 F3, spans 2 semitones or about 28 mm.

### What are the frequencies of E♭sus2?

From E♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 155.56, 174.61, 233.08 Hz.

### What is the set class of E♭sus2?

Prime form (027), Forte 3-9, interval vector &lt;010020&gt;.

### How do I transpose E♭sus2 to another key?

Keep the 1, 2, 5 formula on the new root. Csus2 is C, D, G; C♯sus2 is C♯, D♯, G♯.

### Is D♯sus2 the same as E♭sus2?

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:sus2:e-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12