Ebm piano chord, Eb minor notes and fingering.

The Ebm piano chord is Eb minor: the notes Eb, Gb and Bb played together. It is a root (Eb), a minor third (Gb, three semitones above the root) and a perfect fifth (Bb, seven semitones above). Chord charts write it as Ebm or Ebmin.

How to play Ebm on piano

1. Find Eb on the keyboard. Eb is the second black key of the pair, just before E. It is the same key as D#.
2. With your right hand, put finger 1 on Eb, finger 3 on Gb and finger 5 on Bb. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press all three keys together. In root position they run from Eb4 to Bb4, a reach of 7 semitones. Play chord sounds them together and Arpeggio sounds them one by one, from the bottom up.
4. Click Left hand to see the left hand. It plays Eb3 to Bb3, one octave lower: Eb with finger 5, Gb with finger 3, Bb with finger 1.
5. The cards under the keyboard hold the three positions, with Eb, Gb and Bb at the bottom in turn. Play and Arpeggio on a card play that position.
6. Open Note names. As written the keys read Eb, Gb and Bb. Sharps shows D#, F# and A#, and Flats shows Eb, Gb and Bb. This chord is written with flats, so As written and Flats match.

How Ebm is built

Counted from the root, the formula is 0, 3, 7. Stacked on each other the gaps are 3 + 4: a minor third (Eb to Gb) with a major third (Gb to Bb) on top. A minor triad is a major triad with the third moved down one semitone. Eb major and Eb minor share Eb and Bb, and only the middle note differs: G against Gb.

Worked example: the pitch of Eb4. On a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz, a note 6 semitones below A4 has the frequency 440 × 2^(-6/12), which is about 311.13 Hz. Gb4 is 3 semitones below A4, so 440 × 2^(-3/12) gives about 369.99 Hz.

Ebm and D#m are the same chord on the keyboard: the same three keys sound for both. Written as D#m it reads D#, F# and A#. The key of Eb minor has 6 flats and the key of D# minor has 6 sharps.

What the keys look like under your hand

The white keys beside Eb are D on the left and E on the right, a semitone each way. All three notes are black keys (Eb, Gb and Bb), so every finger lands on a raised key and the hand sits further back, toward the fallboard. Your thumb lands on Eb, a black key with D and E beside it. Keep the thumb relaxed and slightly curved, and let the wrist stay level instead of twisting to reach. Your little finger plays Bb, a black key with A and B beside it. The little finger is short, so let the hand lean a little toward its edge and aim for the middle of the key. Finger 3 presses Gb, a black key between F and G. The middle fingers are the longest, so they reach black keys most easily.

Ebm inversions and fingering

Ebm has three positions. In root position Eb is at the bottom. In the first inversion, Gb is at the bottom and the chord is written Ebm/Gb. In the second inversion, Bb is at the bottom and the chord is written Ebm/Bb. The tightest reach, 7 semitones from the lowest key to the highest, is the root position. The widest, at 9, is the first inversion.

The keys that hold Ebm

Ebm fits six of the major and natural minor keys that have a standard key signature, which means every note of it comes from that key's scale. The simplest is Db major, with 5 flats, where it is chord ii.

Progressions that use Ebm, with the chord numbers and the chords in that key:

• Db major: ii-V-I, which is Ebm, Ab, Db, the ii-V-I, the standard jazz resolution.
• Bb minor: i-iv-v-i, which is Bbm, Ebm, Fm, Bbm, the minor-key cadence.
• Gb major: I-V-vi-IV, which is Gb, Db, Ebm, Cb, the four-chord loop heard in a great deal of pop.

Here is a worked example in Db major. The chord before Ebm in the first progression above is Db (Db, F and Ab). From Db in root position, the closest way to reach Ebm is its root position (Eb, Gb and Bb, lowest note first): no note stays in place, and the notes move 5 semitones in total, counting each note against the note in the same place from the bottom.

What Ebm sounds like

Minor chords sound darker and more serious than major ones, and they carry the mood of many songs. They are not only for sad music, though: in a major key the ii, iii and vi chords are all minor, so a bright song uses them too.

Ebm is the ii chord in Db major, the iv chord in Bb minor and the vi chord in Gb major.

A common mistake with Ebm

A common mistake is pressing G instead of Gb, one semitone higher than the third of Ebm. That turns the chord into Eb major (Eb, G and Bb). If your Ebm sounds too bright, check the middle finger first.

Chords to learn next

Chords close to Ebm: Eb major (same root, with a major third; shares Eb and Bb); Ebm7 (adds a minor seventh; contains all its notes); Ebdim, listed as D#dim (lowers the fifth; shares Eb and Gb); Gb major, listed as F# major (its relative major; shares Gb and Bb).

Once Ebm feels easy, play it and then Eb major to hear what one note changes. For chords beyond these six types, and for guitar and ukulele shapes, use the chord finder. To play along with your computer keys, open the virtual piano. The piano chords page lists all 72 chords.