E major scale on guitar

The notes of the E major scale

E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯

Formula: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. Steps from note to note: 2 2 1 2 2 2 1 semitones (whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half).

E major has 4 sharps: F♯, G♯, C♯ and D♯. Its relative minor, with the same notes, is C♯ minor.

In Hz, from E2: E2 82.4 · F♯2 92.5 · G♯2 103.8 · A2 110.0 · B2 123.5 · C♯3 138.6 · D♯3 155.6.

The E major scale on guitar

One position, frets 0–4, low E string first: low E: 0 2 4 (E F♯ G♯) · A: 0 2 4 (A B C♯) · D: 1 2 4 (D♯ E F♯) · G: 1 2 4 (G♯ A B) · B: 0 2 4 (B C♯ D♯) · high E: 0 2 4 (E F♯ G♯). 0 = open string.

The root E sits at fret 0 and fret 12 on the low E string and at fret 7 on the A string. Slide the same shape there for any other root.

Four sharps, still easy

On paper E major looks hard, four sharps: F♯, G♯, C♯ and D♯. On guitar it is one of the easiest keys because both E strings are open roots. Blues and rock in E often put E minor pentatonic over an E major chord; this page has the full major scale, for melodies and for the major side of those licks.

More scales

Major scale on guitar E major scale on piano C major scale on guitar A major scale on guitar G major scale on guitar D major scale on guitar E major: scale and chords

How this page works

Hear it plays the scale up and down at 100 BPM on one of four Brumm sounds. Take it gives the same notes as a MIDI file and a WAV. − and + move the root. Every note here is computed from the formula.

Sources

Scales and modes: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Piano fingerings: the standard scale-book fingerings (ABRSM scale books; Hanon, The Virtuoso Pianist, part 3). Trumpet valves: the standard B♭ trumpet fingering chart (Yamaha, Bach). Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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