E Major Chord on Guitar

1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.

E major is a major chord made of 3 notes: E, G♯, B. It sounds bright, settled and complete, and you hear it in the home chord of countless songs in every style. It is the I chord of E major and turns up in 5 other keys.

The library above opens on E with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.

Notes in E

Note	Degree	Interval from E	Semitones
E	1	root	0
G♯	3	major third	4
B	5	perfect fifth	7

Formula: 1 – 3 – 5.

How to play E

Open positionBeginner022100

A-shape barre at fret 7Mediumx79997

Open positionBeginnerxx2100

Open positionBeginner0221xx

Open positionEasy022404

Fret 7Beginnerxxx997

Open position (root on the 6th string), step by step

1st finger (index): 3rd string, 1st fret (G♯, the major third).
2nd finger (middle): 5th string, 2nd fret (B, the fifth).
3rd finger (ring): 4th string, 2nd fret (E, the root).
Let the 6th string, 2nd string, 1st string ring open (E, B, E).
Strum from the 6th string across all six strings.

Tips

The open position shape is the one to learn first. Once it is easy, try the shape at the 7th fret (x79997): the same chord, higher and brighter, handy when the chords before and after it sit up the neck.

Keys and progressions with E

E belongs to 6 keys: I in E major, V in A major, IV in B major, III in C♯ minor, VII in F♯ minor, VI in G♯ minor. In E major, try I–V–vi–IV: E – B – C♯m – A.