Major key
E major
Its seven chords: E, F♯m, G♯m, A, B, C♯m, D♯dim.
- E1
- F♯2
- G♯3
- A4
- B5
- C♯6
- D♯7
- I–V–vi–IV
- E
- B
- C♯m
- A
- ii7–V7–Imaj7
- F♯m7
- B7
- Emaj7
- I–IV–V
- E
- A
- B
- vi–IV–I–V
- C♯m
- A
- E
- B
- I–vi–IV–V
- E
- C♯m
- A
- B
- I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V
- E
- B
- C♯m
- G♯m
- A
- E
- A
- B
About E major
The scale of E major runs E – F♯ – G♯ – A – B – C♯ – D♯, and the key has 4♯ in the signature (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯). Those seven notes are the raw material of everything on this page: each chord below is stacked from them alone, which is why the chords of E major fit together so naturally.
Most music in E major leans on three chords: E (home), A (moving away) and B (tension that wants to come home). Add the three minor chords of the key and you have six chords that cover almost every simple song; the seventh, D♯dim, is used as a passing chord.
E major shares every note with C sharp minor, its relative key, so the two have the same signature and the same seven chords. If the chords of a piece fit both lists, listen for the chord it starts and ends on to decide which key you are in. Not to be confused with E minor, the parallel key on the same home note.
Its closest neighbours are B major, one fifth higher, and A major, one fifth lower. Each differs from E major by a single note, which is why a short trip to one of them, a modulation, sounds so smooth. The dominant seventh of the key is B7.
Barre chords make E major harder on guitar, but a capo on fret 4 turns the chords into the easy shapes C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, which is how many guitarists play in this key.
A good way to learn E major: play the chords up the scale, then pick two progressions from this page and loop them for a few minutes with a metronome, first at 60 BPM, then faster.