Sevenths
E♭ major 7th chord
Lush and mellow — a signature sound of jazz, soul and bossa nova.
E♭maj7 is the Imaj7 chord in E♭ major and IVmaj7 in B♭ major. In minor keys: IIImaj7 in C minor and VImaj7 in G minor.
- Notes
- E♭GB♭D
- Formula
- 1357
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · major 7th
How to play E♭maj7
About the E♭ major 7th chord
E♭maj7 is a common jazz and R&B chord — the IVmaj7 of B♭ and the Imaj7 of E♭.
Playing it
On guitar, E♭maj7 has an open-position shape, xx1033, using three fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E and A strings.
On piano, E♭maj7 has two black keys (E♭ and B♭) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual E♭maj7 shape is 3335, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Gm (G B♭ D) — so you can think of E♭maj7 as Gm with E♭ added underneath.
Move a single note and E♭maj7 becomes a different chord: drop the D for E♭, lower D to D♭ for E♭7, swap D for C for E♭6 and swap D for F for E♭add9.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find E♭maj7 in common progressions such as Fm7–B♭7–E♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in E♭ major).
