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Tomus

Key reference

The key of E♭ major

3 flats · E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D

E♭ major has 3 flats: B♭, E♭, A♭. A piece in this key draws on E♭, F, G, A♭, B♭, C, D and treats E♭ as home.

The seven chords below are the ones built from those notes alone, which is why they sound like they belong together.

The key signature

𝄞♭♭♭
The key signature of E♭ major: B, E, A.

Order of flats

  1. B♭
  2. E♭
  3. A♭
  4. D♭
  5. G♭
  6. C♭
  7. F♭

This signature uses the first 3 of them: B♭, E♭, A♭.

The notes of the key

These are the notes of the major scale on this tonic. See the E♭ major scale for the degrees and step pattern.

E♭ – F – G – A♭ – B♭ – C – D

The seven diatonic chords

Build a triad on each degree using only notes from the key and the qualities fall into a fixed pattern. That pattern is the same in every major key, which is why progressions transpose so cleanly.

DegreeRomanChordNotesFunction
1IE♭E♭ – G – B♭Tonic
2iiFmF – A♭ – CPredominant
3iiiGmG – B♭ – DTonic
4IVA♭A♭ – C – E♭Predominant
5VB♭B♭ – D – FDominant
6viCmC – E♭ – GTonic
7vii°DdimD – F – A♭Dominant

Adding sevenths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of the key.

RomanChordNotes
IE♭maj7E♭ – G – B♭ – D
iiFm7F – A♭ – C – E♭
iiiGm7G – B♭ – D – F
IVA♭maj7A♭ – C – E♭ – G
V7B♭7B♭ – D – F – A♭
viCm7C – E♭ – G – B♭
vii°Dm7♭5D – F – A♭ – C

Common progressions in E♭ major

These are the same shapes you meet in every major key, written with this key’s chords.

I – V – vi – IV

  1. E♭ITonic
  2. B♭VDominant
  3. CmviTonic
  4. A♭IVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

  1. E♭ITonic
  2. CmviTonic
  3. A♭IVPredominant
  4. B♭VDominant

ii – V – I

  1. FmiiPredominant
  2. B♭VDominant
  3. E♭ITonic

Related keys

RelationshipKeySignature
Relative minorC minorSame signature
Parallel minorE♭ minor6 flats
One step sharpwardsB♭ majorOne more sharp
One step flatwardsA♭ majorOne more flat
Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.

Related

All major keys