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E♭ major

E♭ major has 3 flats (B♭, E♭ and A♭). Its scale is E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D, its chords are E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭, Cm and Ddim, and its relative minor is C minor.

Make a beat in E♭ majorWrite a melody in this key

Opens the free editor with a pop beat on E♭ B♭ Cm A♭. No account needed to start.

The E♭ major scale

Whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half: the half steps come between G and A♭, and between D and E♭.

E♭ F G A♭ B♭ C D E♭

FGCDE♭A♭B♭E♭

On the piano, E♭ major uses 3 black keys (E♭, A♭ and B♭) and 4 white keys (F, G, C and D).

The notes of E♭ major by scale degree
DegreeNoteName
1E♭Tonic
2FSupertonic
3GMediant
4A♭Subdominant
5B♭Dominant
6CSubmediant
7DLeading tone

Chords in E♭ major

One chord on each note of the scale, built from the scale’s own notes. The Roman numeral says which note it starts on: capitals are major, small letters minor.

IE♭
iiFm
iiiGm
IVA♭
VB♭
viCm
vii°Ddim

Which chords sound happy or sad

Bright

E♭ A♭ B♭

I, IV, V. The major chords. E♭ feels like home; B♭ pulls back to it.

Softer, sadder

Fm Gm Cm

ii, iii, vi. The minor chords. Cm is the sad turn in many pop songs.

Tense

Ddim

vii°. Diminished: tense and unstable, it wants to move on, usually to E♭.

A progression in E♭ major

The pop progression · I–V–vi–IV
E♭
B♭
Cm
A♭
Hear it as

More progressions in E♭ major

Key signature and related keys

Key signature

3 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭

Written at the start of every line of music, so each B, E and A is played flat. Sharps join in the order F C G D A E B, and flats in the order B E A D G C F.

Relative minor

C minor

The same seven notes and key signature, starting on C.

Parallel minor

E♭ minor

The same home note, with 6 flats. Borrowing a chord from it makes a part sound darker.

Next to it on the circle of fifths

Keys next to each other share six of their seven notes. See them all on the circle of fifths.

E♭ major in beats

The editor’s starter beats for these styles are written in E♭ major. Each opens the free editor with its own drums, bass and chords at its usual tempo, no account needed.

Doo-wop · 66 BPMNeo soul · 82 BPM

Questions about E♭ major

How many flats are in E♭ major?

Three: B♭, E♭ and A♭. Those notes are played flat every time, so the key signature has 3 flats, and C minor, its relative minor, has the same.

What is the relative minor of E♭ major?

C minor. It uses the same seven notes and the same key signature as E♭ major, but starts on C, the sixth note of the scale. The two share every chord, which is why songs move between them so easily.

What chords are in E♭ major?

E♭, Fm, Gm, A♭, B♭, Cm and Ddim: one built on each note of the scale (I, ii, iii, IV, V, vi, vii°). E♭, A♭ and B♭ are the three major chords most songs in E♭ major lean on, and Cm (vi) gives a sadder turn.

What is the most common chord progression in E♭ major?

I–V–vi–IV: E♭, B♭, Cm and A♭. It is behind hundreds of hit songs, and it is the one the beat on this page plays.

Every key

Major keys
C majorG majorD majorA majorE majorB majorF♯ majorD♭ majorA♭ majorE♭ majorB♭ majorF major
Minor keys
A minorE minorB minorF♯ minorC♯ minorG♯ minorD♯ minorB♭ minorF minorC minorG minorD minor

Build a song in E♭ major

Start with the beat, then add chords, a melody and your voice in the editor, part by part.

Make a beat in E♭ majorAll music keys

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