E Major guitar chord
Three notes across one string set.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About E — triad voicings
E is E, G# and B.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
E notes and formula
| E | G# | B |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Also written Emaj, EM or E major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play E
Three notes on one string set. No seventh, so nothing is claimed about the chord beyond its quality.
Thin on their own, excellent over a bass line or against someone else’s harmony.
E has 47 of them, on the high-middle three, the top three strings, the low-middle three, the top four strings, the bottom four strings, the middle four strings, the bottom three strings, strings 6-4-3-2 and strings 5-3-2-1, from open position up to the 13th — every inversion the chord has: E in the bass, G# in the bass and B in the bass. The one to learn first is the E shape at the nut, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the top four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with 022100 — no barre and 3 open strings. 1 of the 7 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 022100 | open position | E, root position | E | 3 open strings |
| xx2454 | 2nd fret | E, root position | G# | all fretted |
| x76454 | 4th fret | E, root position | G# | all fretted |
| x79997 | 7th fret | E, root position | B | barred |
| 12-11-9-9-9-12 | 9th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
| x-x-9-9-9-12 | 9th fret | B, 2nd inversion | E | barred |
| 12-14-14-13-12-12 | 12th fret | E, root position | E | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 2 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use E
How you get to it. The turn that lands on E is F#m7 to B7 — the ii and the V of E — and B7 shares its third and seventh with F#m7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of E belongs to C# minor (the ♭III), E major (the I), F# minor (the ♭VII), Ab minor (the ♭VI), A major (the V) and B major (the IV).
What to play over E
Every note of E is in E major pentatonic, E major, E lydian, E mixolydian and E lydian dominant.
Chords near E
Change one note of E and you have Em (the major third becomes a minor third), Esus2 (the major third becomes a ninth), Esus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Emaj7 (add the major seventh), Eadd9 (add the ninth) or E5 (drop the major third).
E is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On E’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.