E chords
E chords for guitar in different categories including major, minor and dominant chords.
E major
E
E major is often commonly referred to only E. The notes in the chord are E, G#, B. The root note is placed on the lowest string that is played open. The root is duplicated on the 4th and 1st strings. All E Major chords
E minor
Em
E minor is often abbreviated Em. The notes in the chord are E, G, B. The root note is placed on the lowest string that is played open. The root is duplicated on the 4th and 1st strings. All Em chords
E dominant 7th
E7
E dominant 7th is often abbreviated E7. The notes in the chord are E, G#, B, D. The root note is placed on open 6th string. The presented fingering consists of a doubled root, a third, a doubled fifth and a minor seventh.
All E7 chords
E major 7th
Emaj7
E major 7th is often abbreviated Emaj7. The notes in the chord are E, G#, B, D#. The root note is placed on the 6th string and the presented fingering consists of a doubled root, a third, a doubled fifth and a seventh.
All Emaj7 chords
E minor 7th
Em7
E minor 7th is often abbreviated Em7. The notes in the chord are E, G, B, D. The root note is placed on the 6th string. It's identical with the Em, except the note on the 2nd string, 3rd fret.
All Em7 chords
E 6th
E6
E 6th is commonly written E6. The notes in the chord are E, G#, B, C#. The root note is placed on the 6th string. It includes the same intervals as for the E major triad plus a major sixth.
E minor 6th
Em6
E minor 6th is often abbreviated Em6. The notes in the chord are E, G, B, C#. It's identical with the Em, except the note on the 2nd string, 2nd fret.
E 9th
E9
E 9th is commonly written E9. The notes in the chord are E, G#, B, D, F#. This is a movable chord with the root note placed on the 5th string.
E major 9th
Emaj9
E major 9th is often abbreviated Emaj9. The notes in the chord are E, G#, B, D#, F#. The 5th interval is omitted in the version shown in the diagram. An alternative chord version that includes the 5th is 021102.
E minor 9th
Em9
E minor 9th is often abbreviated Em9. The notes in the chord are E, G, B, D, F#. The 5th interval is omitted on the version shown in the diagram; it can also be played as 024030 including the 5th.
The notes in relationship to numbers
Concerning E chords, the numbers used in names are based on the position in the E major and minor scales. Here you can see these relationship.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
E | F# | G# | A | B | C# | D# | E | F# |
You can see that an E major triad with the 1, 3, 5 intervals includes the tones E, G# and B. You can also see that an Emaj7 includes a D# which is the seventh degree and that an Emaj9 includes an F# which is the ninth degree.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
E | F# | G | A | B | C | D | E | F# |
You can see that an E minor triad with the 1, b3, 5 intervals includes the tones E, G and B.
More E chords can be constructed from these scales, such as 11th and 13th chords, which include the 11th (A) and 13th (C# / C) degrees, respectively.
The relationship among chords
All E chords are constructed with an E root note, which normally is the lowest note in the chord. When that is not the case, the chord is said to be inverted.
Chord construction
E E - B - E - G# - B - EEm E - B - E - G - B - E
E7 E - B - D - G# - B - E
Emaj7 E - B - D# - G# - B - E
Em7 E - B - E - G - D - E
E6 E - B - E - G# - C# - E
Em6 E - B - E - G - C# - E
E9 x - E - G# - D - F# - B
Emaj9 x - E - G# - D# - F# - x
Em9 x - E - G - D - F# - x
Guitar versions of the chord
Notes in chord
E E - G# - BEm E - G - B
E7 E - G# - B - D
Emaj7 E - G# - B - D#
Em7 E - G - B - D
E6 E - G# - B - C#
Em6 E - G - B - C#
E9 E - G# - B - D - F#
Emaj9 E - G# - B - D# - F#
Em9 E - G - B - D - F#
Theoretical order of notes
Comments
Emaj9: The pictured guitar version doesn’t include the fifth (B).
Em9: The pictured guitar version doesn’t include the fifth (B).
Excluding the fifth is a common approach, especially in major and minor chord in which it's the least important tone (interval).
For pdf, see The Chord Reference ebook with over 800 chord charts.