GuitarChords.net

E major guitar chord

All six strings ring in E major. The notes are E, G sharp, and B. Put your fingers on the first picture, then check the list.

x means muted. 0 means open.

E major

Short code 022100, thickest string first.

  1. Low E string: open, note E, 1st.
  2. A string: fret 2, middle finger, note B, 5th.
  3. D string: fret 2, ring finger, note E, 1st.
  4. G string: fret 1, index finger, note G sharp, 3rd.
  5. B string: open, note B, 5th.
  6. High E string: open, note E, 1st.

E major uses the notes E, B and G sharp.

This is a beginner grip.

People write "E" for "E major".

The first shape does not use a barre.

Another shape on this page does not use a barre.

The next beginner chord on this site is A major. Open the A major page.

More E guitar chords.

Also E minor, E dominant 7, E major 7, E minor 7, E suspended 2, E suspended 4, E power chord, E diminished, E augmented.

E major, another shape

Short code xx2454, thickest string first.

  1. Low E string: muted, do not play.
  2. A string: muted, do not play.
  3. D string: fret 2, index finger, note E, 1st.
  4. G string: fret 4, middle finger, note B, 5th.
  5. B string: fret 5, pinky finger, note E, 1st.
  6. High E string: fret 4, ring finger, note G sharp, 3rd.

E major uses the notes E, B and G sharp.

Why is the second E major higher and thinner?

Both pictures are E, G sharp, and B. That is E major. The first picture rings all six strings; three of them have no finger. The second picture mutes the two thick strings and sits higher on the neck. It still has no barre. Same three notes. The first shape sounds full. The second sounds smaller and higher because the two thick strings are out and the notes start further up the neck.

If the E major in a song sounds thinner or higher than the first picture, try the second picture lower on this page. It is still E major.

This site shows the chord. It does not play the recording. The first picture is the full six-string sound. A recording that sounds thinner may be the second picture, a capo (a clamp that raises every string), or a chart in a different key. Check those before you decide your fingers failed.

G sharp is the note that makes this chord major instead of minor. On the first picture that G sharp is on the G string, fret 1, index finger. Play E minor after this E major. On E minor that note is G. Listen for G sharp turning into G.

You can play E major well and A major well and still have trouble in a song that uses both. The hard part is moving from this first E shape to the first A shape without stopping. No finger stays on the same string and fret. Practice that change slowly.

Chords that go with E major

This site has A major and B major.

Progressions that start on E major

Play each line in order.

E major, A major, B major, E major

This is the campfire loop. E major (E) to A major (A) to B major (B) and home. Your ear already knows the last chord is coming, and that little click of "yes" is why beginners and church basements and country radio never get tired of it. It feels like a door shutting gently, not slamming.

E major, B major, A major, E major

No minor chord, so no lump in the throat — only forward. 1970s rock, church-camp songs, anything that wants grit and a grin instead of a sad verse. You stomp. You keep going.

E major, F sharp minor, B major, E major

F sharp minor (F#m) is a quieter color, not a tragedy. B major turns you around. E major is still home; you just took the long way. Jazz standards and softer pop from the 1930s on like that little wait before you land. It feels grown without getting hard.

E major, D major, A major, E major

D major (D) leans away from home like a swagger, A major pulls, E major plants you. 1960s and 70s rock — the kind that wants dirt on the boots, not a crying verse. Southern rock and classic-rock radio still run on it.

E major, A major, D major, E major

Same rock family, different order of the lean. You visit A major, then D major takes you even farther from home, then you stamp back. Bar-band rock. Loud. Useful when the sad loop would be too much.

Songs with E major

Listen for this chord, then use the grip on this page.

Three Little Birds

E major sits in this Bob Marley and the Wailers song. The recording is in A major. It also uses A major and D major. The chorus is A major, D major, A major. The verse is A major, E major, A major, D major, A major, E major, D major, A major.

E major is the second chord of the verse.

Three Little Birds is an A major song. In the verse you play A major first, then E major. A major sits still. E major is brighter. It is the first step up.

On December 3, 1976, gunmen drove into 56 Hope Road and opened fire. Marley was shot. Two days later he still played a free concert in Kingston called Smile Jamaica.

Then he left Jamaica. In early 1977 he recorded Exodus in London, at Island Records studios. Three Little Birds is on that album.

In the verse you leave A major and play E major. E major is the brighter chord that comes next.

I Wanna Be Sedated

E major sits in this Ramones song. The recording is in E major. It also uses A major and B major. The chorus is E major, A major, E major. The verse is B major, E major, B major, E major, B major, E major, A major, B major.

E major is the first chord of the chorus and the chord the song keeps coming back to.

Ramones put I Wanna Be Sedated out in 1978, on the album Road to Ruin. Joey Ramone wrote it as a road song. E major is the home chord. It is bright and hard. It is the chord the chorus sits on.

The band’s first manager, Danny Fields, kept them on the road almost every day. Joey said they were on the road 360 days a year. At Christmas in 1977 they were in London. Joey said the city shuts down then.

He and Dee Dee Ramone shared a hotel room and watched the movie The Guns of Navarone. Joey said they were in London for the first time in their lives, and that is what they did: sit in a hotel and watch an American movie. He wrote this song there.

E major is the chord you sit on for most of the chorus, like that hotel room. Then you play A major and come back to E major.