Eb natural minor scale
- Notes
- Eb F Gb Ab Bb Cb Db
- Formula
- 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- Steps
- W H W W H W W (W tone, H semitone)
- Also called
- Eb Aeolian, Eb minor
- Also written
- D# natural minor: D# E# F# G# A# B C#
Seven notes from Eb up to the next Eb. Each note is written with the letter its degree names, one letter each, so the spelling follows the formula.
Eb natural minor on the piano
From Eb4 to Eb5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from Eb
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eb | 1 | root | 0 |
| F | 2 | major second | 2 |
| Gb | b3 | minor third | 3 |
| Ab | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| Bb | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| Cb | b6 | minor sixth | 8 |
| Db | b7 | minor seventh | 10 |
Eb natural minor on the guitar
Standard tuning, high e on top as in tablature, open strings to fret 12. Every dot is a note of the scale; the pattern repeats from fret 12 up.
The seven chords of Eb natural minor
Every other note of the scale stacked on each note. Numerals are measured against the major scale on Eb, so a b marks a chord root a semitone lower than in major.
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Ebm | Eb Gb Bb | |
| ii° | Fdim | F Ab Cb | |
| bIII | Gb (same notes, spelled F# on its chord page) | Gb Bb Db | |
| iv | Abm (same notes, spelled G#m on its chord page) | Ab Cb Eb | |
| v | Bbm | Bb Db F | |
| bVI | Cb (same notes, spelled B on its chord page) | Cb Eb Gb | |
| bVII | Db | Db F Ab |
Seventh chords
Same notes, different home note
Eb natural minor uses exactly the same notes as Db Mixolydian, F Locrian, F# major, Ab Dorian, Bb Phrygian and B Lydian. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.
The chords, progressions and a capo tip for this scale as a key are on the Eb minor key page.
How Eb natural minor is built
The natural minor has the same seven notes as F# major, its relative major, started from the 6th note. Against Eb major three notes are a semitone lower: G becomes Gb, C becomes Cb and D becomes Db. Aeolian is the modal name of this same scale, so it gets no page of its own.
Its 7th, Db, is a whole tone below Eb, so the chord on the 5th note is minor and pulls home only weakly. Most music in Eb minor raises it to D for the V chord: that is the Eb harmonic minor scale.
Played some notes and not sure which scale they come from? The scale finder listens to the piano, a MIDI keyboard or the microphone and ranks all 180 scales.
What this page cannot do
- One spelling per scale. D# natural minor is the same sounds written from D#; the root is spelled the way that needs the fewest sharps and flats.
- Equal temperament only. Blues and many folk traditions bend notes between these pitches, and Arabic and Turkish maqam scales use quarter tones that a piano cannot play.
- The guitar diagram shows standard tuning only and does not suggest fingerings; any note can be played in several places.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, not a recorded instrument.