E♭ harmonic minor scale (D♯ harmonic minor)
E♭ harmonic minor scale is E♭ – F – G♭ – A♭ – B♭ – C♭ – D, with E♭, G♭, A♭, B♭ and C♭. Formula 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7. Hit play and watch it light up on both instruments.
E♭ harmonic minor scale, note by note
Counted in steps it goes W H W W H W+H H (W = whole step, H = half step, W+H = a step and a half). The half steps fall between F–G♭, B♭–C♭ and D–E♭. The wide step is C♭–D.
| Degree | Note | Interval from E♭ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E♭ | root | |
| 2 | F | major second | |
| ♭3 | G♭ | minor third | |
| 4 | A♭ | perfect fourth | |
| 5 | B♭ | perfect fifth | |
| ♭6 | C♭ | minor sixth | |
| 7 | D | major seventh |
The sound of E♭ harmonic minor scale
Harmonic minor is natural minor with the 7th raised a half step, here to D. The raise gives the minor key a real leading tone and a major V chord, and it leaves a wide step-and-a-half gap between the 6th and 7th notes that sounds exotic on its own.
The gap between C♭ and D is three half steps. Play just those two notes back and forth and you'll recognize the harmonic minor sound anywhere.
Compared with E♭ natural minor scale, E♭ harmonic minor scale has D where the other has D♭; the other six notes are shared. Hear E♭ natural minor scale and compare.
Where your hands go
E♭, G♭, A♭ and B♭ are on black keys; the rest are white. C♭ is a white key with a sharp or flat name, because each letter can appear only once in the scale.
The guitar box starts with the root at the 11th fret of the low E string and spans frets 9–15: 18 notes, low string to high.
Chords built on each note
Stack every other note of the scale on each degree and you get 7 chords. These are the chords that fit E♭ harmonic minor scale; the ones that differ from the major set are what give the scale its color. Tap to hear each one.
Finding E♭ harmonic minor on the neck
The root, E♭, sits at fret 11 on the low E string and 6 on the A string. Work up the neck in five positions (low E string frets 1, 4, 6, 8 and 11) and you'll have it everywhere. On guitar, the three-fret leap between the 6th and 7th notes is the stretch to practise on its own.
On the piano, E♭ harmonic minor scale uses 4 black keys (E♭, G♭, A♭ and B♭) and 3 white.
A good drill once the scale is under your fingers: play it in thirds, skipping one note each time. Here that's E♭–G♭, F–A♭, G♭–B♭, A♭–C♭, B♭–D, C♭–E♭, D–F.
Drills for E♭ harmonic minor
Try these after the plain scale. Tap to hear each pattern at a steady speed, then play along.
- Up in threes: E♭ F G♭ · F G♭ A♭ · G♭ A♭ B♭ · A♭ B♭ C♭ · B♭ C♭ D · C♭ D E♭.
- Target D: E♭ D E♭ D E♭: the raised 7th, a step and a half above the ♭6, gives the scale its exotic leap.
Try next, from E♭
Harmonic minor scale in every key
E♭ harmonic minor scale: questions
What are the notes of the E♭ harmonic minor scale?
E♭, F, G♭, A♭, B♭, C♭ and D, then E♭ again at the octave. Formula: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 ♭6 7.
How many sharps or flats are in the E♭ harmonic minor scale?
Five: E♭, G♭, A♭, B♭ and C♭.
What chords are in the E♭ harmonic minor scale?
Stacking thirds on each note gives E♭m (i), Fdim (ii°), G♭aug (III+), A♭m (iv), B♭ (V), C♭ (VI) and Ddim (vii°).
What's the difference between E♭ harmonic minor scale and E♭ natural minor scale?
D in E♭ harmonic minor; D♭ in the other. Everything else is the same.
Generated from the step pattern 2-1-2-2-1-3-1 and checked by the site's tests. Updated September 2026.