Guitar scale · Ionian mode
E Major Scale
Bright, balanced major scale forming the foundation of Western music and pop/rock.
Tap any note to hear it.
How to play E Major on guitar
Find the root first: E is at fret 0 on the low E string and fret 7 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every E on the neck; the gold ones are the other chord tones (3rd, 5th and 7th), which are the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 0–4. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
E major shares all its notes with C# minor, its relative minor. See the C# Minor Scale.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | E |
| 2 | F# |
| 3 | G# |
| 4 | A |
| 5 | B |
| 6 | C# |
| 7 | D# |
Fretwise for Android · Free
Practise E Major anywhere, even offline.
This page is a small slice of the Fretwise app. On your phone you get all 20 scales and 23 chord types in every key, 7 tunings including Drop D and DADGAD, and the CAGED shapes on one tap. No sign-up.
- Songwriter Handbook: the chords of any key, filtered by mood
- 51 genre practice loops, from blues to flamenco and neo-soul
- One purchase, no subscription, ads removed
Questions
- What notes are in the E Major Scale?
- The E Major Scale has 7 notes: E, F#, G#, A, B, C#, D#.
- What is the formula of the major scale?
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7, which is the step pattern W W H W W W H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play E Major on the guitar?
- The root E is at fret 0 on the low E string and fret 7 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 0–4, and four more positions connect it up the neck.