E♭ major chord on piano

The notes and their roles

E♭ major contains E♭, G and B♭. From the root, the semitone offsets are 0, 4, 7. The degree formula 1, 3, 5 describes each member relative to the root, not its order in a particular voicing.

Read this shape accurately

E-flat and B-flat frame the natural G. The third uses the letter G, so an F-double-sharp spelling would hide the chord’s alternating E–G–B letters.

Change only the third

Hold E♭ and B♭ steady. Lower G by one semitone to G♭ and the quality changes to minor. The root and perfect fifth do not change. This isolates the interval that distinguishes the two triads.

Choose a bass note

The root-position octave example is E♭4 · G4 · B♭4. Inversions put a different member in the bass while retaining E♭ as the root. The table gives pitch-class order; move the leading notes up an octave as needed to keep each example ascending.

A short listening check

Play E♭ major together, then as separate notes. Name the major third before looking at the display. Repeat in first inversion and check that G is the bass while E♭ remains the root.

1. Choose the displayed root and quality in the chord explorer.
2. Compare root position with one inversion at the same tempo.
3. Save both examples in a named practice collection, or export a reference with note names.