Ebm7

Ebm7 is Eb, Gb, Bb and Db, a minor seventh. The shape this page opens on is written xx1322, lowest string first.

Note by note. Eb is the root, Gb is the minor third, Bb is the fifth and Db is the flat seventh.

Also written Ebmin7, Eb-7 or Eb minor 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for Ebm7 on the guitar, and 27 derived voicings in 3 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Ebm7 and you have Ebm (with one note taken away), Ebm6 (with one note moved), Ebm7b5 (with one note moved), Ebm9 (with one note added), EbmMaj7 (with one note moved) or Ebmadd9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Ebm7 belongs to C# major (the ii), Eb minor (the i), F# major (the vi), Ab minor (the v), Bb minor (the iv) and B major (the iii).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: xx1322, x6464x, x6467x, x68676, xx8879, 11-13-11-11-11-11.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Ebm7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 2 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Ebm7 has x646xx, 11-9-11-x-x-x, x6x67x, 11-x-11-11-x-x, x-6-11-11-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Ebm7 has xx1322, x4434x, 6646xx, xx4646, x6867x, xx8879, 9988xx, x-x-11-11-11-11.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Ebm7 has 2x132x, x4x342, 6x464x, x6x676, 9x887x, x-9-x-8-11-9, x-13-x-11-14-11, 11-x-11-11-11-x.

Tensions. A shell of Ebm7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (F), the 11 (Ab) and the 13 (C).

What kind of chord this is. Ebm7 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. minor chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.