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Guitar scale

Eb major scale (D# major)

The Eb major scale is the bright, resolved sound at the centre of Western music, and the reference every other scale is measured against. Best for melody, songwriting, everything else.

By Chiye · Updated · Counts from the 80 song sheets on openguitarchords.com

Root
Eb
Notes
EbFGAbBbCD
Formula
W-W-H-W-W-W-H
Relative key
C natural minor
Learning path
Step 2 of 5
123456789101112131415EADGBeFGAbBbCDEbFGBbCDEbFGAbBbCDEbFGAbBbCDEbFGAbBbCDEbFGAbBbCDEbFGAbBbCDFGAbBbCDEbFG
All 15 frets, high e string on top. Orange marks an Eb root, the box is the one position to start with, and fret 0 is an open string.
Print or save the Eb major chart
Eb major scale chart: every note from fret 0 to 15 across all six strings, root notes marked in orange

940 × 230 px version of the chart above, sized for a phone screen or a printed handout. Tap the image to save it.

The Eb major scale is the seven notes Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C and D. Read as scale degrees from Eb, that is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Every note is a fixed distance from the one before it: W-W-H-W-W-W-H, where W is a whole step (2 frets) and H is a half step (1 fret). That pattern is the whole scale. Move it so the root lands on a different note and you are playing that key's major scale. The scale supplies the chords of its key: Eb (I), Fm (ii), Gm (iii), Ab (IV), Bb (V), Cm (vi), Ddim (vii°). Its relative key is C natural minor, which uses exactly the same notes. What changes is the note that feels like home. On the guitar this is not one shape but overlapping positions: the lowest Eb sits at fret 1 on the D string. 2 of the 80 song sheets charted here are in Eb.

Start here: one Eb major position

Every note of the scale inside frets 1 to 5 sits in the box highlighted on the full neck above. The diagram below is that box on its own, numbered in the order to play it. Learn this one box first; the rest of the neck is the same shape repeated.

Play the box in this order

12345EADGBeFGAbBbCDCEbFGAb1234567
Numbers 1 to 7 are the playing order, one note at a time. Letters are the other Eb major notes in this position; orange letters are roots.

Eb 1 → F 2 → G 3 → Ab 4 → Bb 5 → C 6 → D 7

Plays exactly the run numbered above, one note at a time.

Every Eb on the neck

low Efret 11
Afret 6
Dfret 1
Gfret 8
Bfret 4
high Efret 11

What notes are in the Eb major scale?

  1. Eb1Root
  2. W
  3. F2Major 2nd
  4. W
  5. G3Major 3rd
  6. H
  7. Ab4Perfect 4th
  8. W
  9. Bb5Perfect 5th
  10. W
  11. C6Major 6th
  12. W
  13. D7Major 7th
  14. H
  15. Eb1octave

W whole step (2 frets), H half step (1 fret). The same pattern from any other root gives that key's major scale.

Chords in the key of Eb major

Every chord below is built from the notes of this scale, so a song in Eb major uses almost nothing else. Together they account for 14 chord changes in the library, counted, not estimated.

I1 usesEbEb G Bbii1 usesFmF Ab Ciiiunused hereGmG Bb DIVunused hereAbAb C EbV3 usesBbBb D Fvi9 usesCmC Eb Gvii°unused hereDdim all rootsD F Ab

How to practise the Eb major scale

  1. Frets 1 to 5, slowly. The position above, up and back, naming every note out loud. Naming is what turns a shape into a scale.
  2. Then find the next Eb: A string, fret 6. Build the same shape from there and play root to root at 60 BPM, one note per beat.
  3. Then stop counting. Pick a song in Eb from the list below and improvise on these notes for two minutes. That is what the scale is for.

Songs in Eb on this site

2 of the 80 song sheets charted here are in Eb. Play this scale over any of them and every note lands inside the key.

EbThe GamblerKenny RogersEbYou're BeautifulJames BluntAllEvery song sheet
What the library actually plays in Eb majorCounted from the progressions written out in the song sheets charted here, not derived from theory. Only three-chord runs that stay inside the Eb major scale are shown.
Run #1
Eb → Bb → Fplayed 2 times
Run #2
Fm → C → Cplayed 2 times

Eb major scale: common questions

What notes are in the Eb major scale?
The Eb major scale is Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C and D. Counting from the root Eb, the degrees are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
What is the formula for the Eb major scale?
The step pattern is W-W-H-W-W-W-H. Read left to right from Eb: whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret), then whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret). Apply the same pattern from any other note and you get that note's major scale.
What chords are in the key of Eb major?
The seven diatonic chords are Eb (I), Fm (ii), Gm (iii), Ab (IV), Bb (V), Cm (vi), Ddim (vii°). Across the 80 song sheets on this site those chords appear 14 times in total.
Is the Eb major scale the same as C natural minor?
Yes. Eb major and C natural minor contain exactly the same notes: Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb, C and D. They are relative keys. Centre the melody on Eb and it sounds like Eb major; centre it on C and the same notes sound like C natural minor.
What is the easiest fingering for the Eb major scale?
The position above starts on the D string at fret 1 and stays inside frets 1 to 5: Eb at fret 1 on the D, then F at fret 3 on the D, then G at fret 5 on the D, then Ab at fret 1 on the G, then Bb at fret 3 on the G, then C at fret 5 on the G, then D at fret 3 on the B. Everything else on the neck is the same notes repeated in other positions.
How do I practise the Eb major scale?
Play the position in frets 1 to 5 up and back, naming every note out loud. When the shape is automatic, build the same shape from the next Eb up the neck, at fret 6 on the A string, and only then add a metronome at 60 BPM.

More Eb scales

Eb natural minorEb major pentatonicEb minor pentatonicEb blues

This scale in other keys

C majorC# majorD majorE majorF majorF# majorG majorAb majorAll 60 scale charts
Previous keyD bluesNext keyEb natural minor