Piano chord · Minor triad
E♭ minor piano chord (E♭m)
E♭, G♭ and B♭, played together. Root position is highlighted on the keyboard below — press play to hear it.
Notes in E♭m: E♭, G♭ and B♭
| Note | Interval from the root | Key around middle C |
|---|---|---|
| E♭ | Root | D♯4 · black key |
| G♭ | Minor 3rd | F♯4 · black key |
| B♭ | Perfect 5th | A♯4 · black key |
- Chord symbol: E♭m — E♭ minor
- Formula: R · b3 · 5 (0 · 3 · 7 semitones from the root)
- Right hand fingering: 1-3-5 — thumb, middle finger and little finger
- Left hand fingering: 5-3-1, little finger on the root
How E♭m works
E♭ minor is the second of the two triads made entirely of black keys (F♯ major is the other): E♭, G♭ and B♭ all sit in the upper row. The whole chord lives further into the keyboard than D minor a semitone below it, which is why it feels so different to play.
E♭m inversions
An inversion keeps the same notes and changes which one is at the bottom. That matters because it lets you move between chords without jumping: the closer the notes of the next chord are to the ones your hand is already holding, the smoother it sounds and the easier it is to play. Root position first, then two inversions.
Root position
E♭–G♭–B♭ — the root, E♭, is at the bottom.
1st inversion — G♭ in the bass
G♭–B♭–E♭ — the same three notes, reordered so G♭ is lowest.
2nd inversion — B♭ in the bass
B♭–E♭–G♭ — the same three notes, reordered so B♭ is lowest.
Common mistakes on E♭m
- Writing the third as F♯; in E♭ minor it is spelled G♭.
- Playing at the back of the black keys where the leverage is worst and the tone goes thin.
- Slipping onto G natural, which turns it back into E♭ major.
Piano chord data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.