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Guitar scale

Eb natural minor scale (D# natural minor)

The Eb natural minor scale is the darker mirror of the major scale, and the home sound of rock ballads, folk and minor-key pop. Best for ballads, rock, minor-key pop.

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

Root
Eb
Notes
EbFGbAbBbCbDb
Formula
W-H-W-W-H-W-W
Relative key
Gb major
Learning path
Step 4 of 5
123456789101112131415EADGBeFGbAbBbCbDbEbFGbBbCbDbEbFGbAbBbCbEbFGbAbBbCbDbEbFAbBbCbDbEbFGbAbBbCbDbEbFGbAbBbCbDbFGbAbBbCbDbEbFGb
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 natural minor chart
Eb natural minor 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 natural minor scale is the seven notes Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb and Db. 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-H-W-W-H-W-W, 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 natural minor scale. The scale supplies the chords of its key: Ebm (i), Fdim (ii°), Gb (III), Abm (iv), Bbm (v), Cb (VI), Db (VII). Its relative key is Gb major, 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.

Start here: one Eb natural minor 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

12345EADGBeFGbAbBbCbDbEbFGbAb1234567
Numbers 1 to 7 are the playing order, one note at a time. Letters are the other Eb natural minor notes in this position; orange letters are roots.

Eb 1 → F 2 → Gb ♭3 → Ab 4 → Bb 5 → Cb ♭6 → Db ♭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 natural minor scale?

  1. Eb1Root
  2. W
  3. F2Major 2nd
  4. H
  5. Gb♭3Minor 3rd
  6. W
  7. Ab4Perfect 4th
  8. W
  9. Bb5Perfect 5th
  10. H
  11. Cb♭6Minor 6th
  12. W
  13. Db♭7Minor 7th
  14. W
  15. Eb1octave

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

Chords in the key of Eb natural minor

Every chord below is built from the notes of this scale, so a song in Eb natural minor uses almost nothing else. Together they account for 11 chord changes in the library, counted, not estimated.

iunused hereEbm all rootsEb Gb Bbii°unused hereFdim all rootsF Ab CbIII2 usesGbGb Bb Dbivunused hereAbm all rootsAb Cb Ebvunused hereBbm all rootsBb Db FVI9 usesCbCb Eb GbVIIunused hereDbDb F Ab

How to practise the Eb natural minor 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. Improvise on these notes for two minutes over any backing track in Ebm / D#m. That is what the scale is for.

Eb natural minor scale: common questions

What notes are in the Eb natural minor scale?
The Eb natural minor scale is Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb and Db. Counting from the root Eb, the degrees are 1, 2, ♭3, 4, 5, ♭6, ♭7.
What is the formula for the Eb natural minor scale?
The step pattern is W-H-W-W-H-W-W. Read left to right from Eb: whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret), then whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets), then half step (1 fret), then whole step (2 frets), then whole step (2 frets). Apply the same pattern from any other note and you get that note's natural minor scale.
What chords are in the key of Eb natural minor?
The seven diatonic chords are Ebm (i), Fdim (ii°), Gb (III), Abm (iv), Bbm (v), Cb (VI), Db (VII). Across the 80 song sheets on this site those chords appear 11 times in total.
Is the Eb natural minor scale the same as Gb major?
Yes. Eb natural minor and Gb major contain exactly the same notes: Eb, F, Gb, Ab, Bb, Cb and Db. They are relative keys. Centre the melody on Eb and it sounds like Eb natural minor; centre it on F# and the same notes sound like Gb major.
What is the easiest fingering for the Eb natural minor 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 Gb at fret 4 on the D, then Ab at fret 1 on the G, then Bb at fret 3 on the G, then Cb at fret 4 on the G, then Db at fret 2 on the B. Everything else on the neck is the same notes repeated in other positions.
How do I practise the Eb natural minor 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 majorEb major pentatonicEb minor pentatonicEb blues

This scale in other keys

C natural minorC# natural minorD natural minorE natural minorF natural minorF# natural minorG natural minorAb natural minorAll 60 scale charts
Previous keyEb majorNext keyEb major pentatonic