E Major Scale – Guitar

The seven-note scale everything else is measured against: do-re-mi on the guitar neck. 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 major scale

E1
F♯2
G♯3
A4
B5
C♯6
D♯7

Formula: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7. Use it to solo over songs in E major.

Same seven notes as the C♯ natural minor scale (its relative minor).

E major scale on the whole neck

E Major 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-major" width="100%" height="300" style="border:0;max-width:900px" loading="lazy" title="E Major Scale on the guitar neck"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://jamease.app/scales/e-major">E Major 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 10–15

E Major Scale, box 1

e|----------------------------------------------11-12-14-|
B|-------------------------------------10-12-14----------|
G|----------------------------11-13-14-------------------|
D|-------------------11-13-14----------------------------|
A|----------11-12-14-------------------------------------|
E|-11-12-14----------------------------------------------|

Box 2 · frets 1–6

E Major Scale, box 2

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

Box 3 · frets 3–8

E Major Scale, box 3

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

Box 4 · frets 5–10

E Major Scale, box 4

e|-------------------------------------------------5--7--9--|
B|-------------------------------------5--7--9--10----------|
G|----------------------------6--8--9-----------------------|
D|-------------------6--7--9--------------------------------|
A|----------6--7--9-----------------------------------------|
E|-5--7--9--------------------------------------------------|

Box 5 · frets 8–13

E Major Scale, box 5

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

E major backing track

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

Slow blues backing track in E major – Beardly Jam Tracks

Songs in E major

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

Photograph – Ed Sheeran
Love Yourself – Justin Bieber
Hey Soul Sister – Train
Where Is My Mind – Pixies
Talking To The Moon – Bruno Mars
First Day Of My Life – Bright Eyes
Need You Now – Lady A (Lady Antebellum)
Dont Stop Believin – Journey
Dont Think Twice Its All Right – Bob Dylan
Under The Bridge – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Payphone – Maroon 5
What Makes You Beautiful – One Direction

All songs in E major →

Other scales in E

Major Scale in other keys

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