Guitar scales › Major Pentatonic Scale

E Major Pentatonic Scale – Guitar

The bright, sweet-sounding pentatonic: country, pop and classic rock solos over major-key songs. 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 pentatonic scale

• E1
• F♯2
• G♯3
• B5
• C♯6

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

Same five notes as the C♯ minor pentatonic scale – the shapes are identical, only the home note changes.

E major pentatonic scale on the whole neck

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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.

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

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

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

e|---------------------7-9-|
B|-----------------7-9-----|
G|-------------6-9---------|
D|---------6-9-------------|
A|-----7-9-----------------|
E|-7-9---------------------|

e|-------------------------------9--12-|
B|-------------------------9--12-------|
G|-------------------9--11-------------|
D|-------------9--11-------------------|
A|-------9--11-------------------------|
E|-9--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

• E Minor Pentatonic Scale
• E Blues Scale
• E Major Blues Scale
• E Major Scale
• E Natural Minor Scale
• E Dorian Mode
• E Mixolydian Mode
• E Phrygian Mode
• E Lydian Mode
• E Harmonic Minor Scale
• E Melodic Minor Scale

Major Pentatonic Scale in other keys

• C Major Pentatonic Scale
• D♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• D Major Pentatonic Scale
• E♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• F Major Pentatonic Scale
• F♯ Major Pentatonic Scale
• G Major Pentatonic Scale
• A♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• A Major Pentatonic Scale
• B♭ Major Pentatonic Scale
• B Major Pentatonic Scale