E Harmonic Minor Scale – Guitar

A natural minor scale with a raised 7th: the neoclassical, exotic sound of Malmsteen and Gypsy jazz. Here it is in E: the notes, the whole neck, all five boxes with TAB, and a backing track to practise over.

Notes in the E harmonic minor scale

E1
F♯2
Gb3
A4
B5
Cb6
D♯7

Formula: 1 – 2 – b3 – 4 – 5 – b6 – 7. Use it to solo over songs in E minor, and over E blues and rock progressions.

E harmonic minor scale on the whole neck

E Harmonic Minor Scale on the whole neck, frets 0-15. Gold = the root (E).

Embed this diagram on your site

Free for teachers and blogs. Copy this into your page:

<iframe src="https://jamease.app/embed/scales/e-harmonic-minor" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:900px" loading="lazy" title="E Harmonic Minor Scale on the guitar neck"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://jamease.app/scales/e-harmonic-minor">E Harmonic Minor Scale on guitar</a> – diagram by JamEase</p>

The JamEase course map: chapter 1, Solo Foundations

Know the scale?
Now solo with it.

A guitar soloing course: 81 short lessons, each one ends with you jamming over a real backing track.

From 3 notes to your own solos
Every note on the neck, with sound and TAB
379 backing tracks in every key

Learn to solo

The 5 boxes (positions) with TAB

Each box is one hand position. Learn Box 1 first: play it up with the TAB, then back down, then move to the next box – together they cover the whole neck.

Box 1 · frets 11–16

E Harmonic Minor Scale, box 1

e|----------------------------------------------------11-12-14-15-|
B|-------------------------------------------12-13-16-------------|
G|-------------------------------11-12-14-16----------------------|
D|----------------------13-14-16----------------------------------|
A|-------------12-14-15-------------------------------------------|
E|-11-12-14-15----------------------------------------------------|

Box 2 · frets 1–6

E Harmonic Minor Scale, box 2

e|---------------------------------2-3-5-|
B|---------------------------1-4-5-------|
G|---------------------2-4-5-------------|
D|-------------1-2-4-5-------------------|
A|-------2-3-6---------------------------|
E|-2-3-5---------------------------------|

Box 3 · frets 3–9

E Harmonic Minor Scale, box 3

e|-----------------------------------------3-5-7-8-|
B|---------------------------------4-5-7-8---------|
G|-------------------------4-5-8-9-----------------|
D|-----------------4-5-7-9-------------------------|
A|---------3-6-7-9---------------------------------|
E|-3-5-7-8-----------------------------------------|

Box 4 · frets 6–11

E Harmonic Minor Scale, box 4

e|-------------------------------------------------7--8--11-|
B|----------------------------------------7--8--10----------|
G|-------------------------------8--9--11-------------------|
D|----------------------7--9--10----------------------------|
A|----------6--7--9--10-------------------------------------|
E|-7--8--11-------------------------------------------------|

Box 5 · frets 8–13

E Harmonic Minor Scale, box 5

e|----------------------------------------------------8--11-12-|
B|----------------------------------------8--10-12-13----------|
G|----------------------------8--9--11-12----------------------|
D|-------------------9--10-13----------------------------------|
A|----------9--10-12-------------------------------------------|
E|-8--11-12----------------------------------------------------|

E minor backing track

Play the boxes over this, starting and ending phrases on the gold root notes.

Sad Slow Blues Backing Track Jam in E minor | SZBT 819 – Sebastien Zunino

Songs in E minor

These songs are in E minor, so this is a scale that fits for soloing over them:

Let Her Go – Passenger
Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
Zombie – The Cranberries
Karma Police – Radiohead
Take Me To Church – Hozier
Another Love – Tom Odell
Nothing Else Matters – Metallica
So Far Away – Avenged Sevenfold
Ocean Eyes – Billie Eilish
Heart Of Gold – Neil Young
Safe And Sound – Taylor Swift
Killing Me Softly – Fugees

All songs in E minor →

Other scales in E

Harmonic Minor Scale in other keys

Put it to use: solo with it, step by step, starting with three notes.