Sevenths
E♭ dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
E♭7 is the V7 chord in A♭ major. In minor keys: V7 in G♯ minor.
- Notes
- E♭GB♭D♭
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play E♭7
About the E♭ dominant 7th chord
E♭7 is the V7 of A♭ and a regular in jazz and blues in B♭ and E♭, the keys horn players love.
Playing it
On guitar, E♭7 has an open-position shape, xx1023, using three fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E and A strings.
On piano, E♭7 has three black keys (E♭, B♭ and D♭) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual E♭7 shape is 0334, using three fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Gdim (G B♭ D♭) — so you can think of E♭7 as Gdim with E♭ added underneath.
Move a single note and E♭7 becomes a different chord: drop the D♭ for E♭, raise D♭ to D for E♭maj7, lower G to G♭ for E♭m7 and lower D♭ to C for E♭6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find E♭7 in common progressions such as E♭7–A♭7–B♭7 (the 12-bar blues in E♭ major) and B♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in A♭ major).
