E
How to play the E Major Chord on your piano or keyboard
From the chord symbol E we get the following information:
- The E chord has the note E as root note
- The E chord is a 3-note chord (a triad)
- The E chord is a major chord
Because E is a 3-note chord it also has 3 inversions:
- Root inversion
- 1st. inversion
- 2nd. inversion
E chord – Root inversion (basic inversion) looks like this: E – G# – B
E chord – 1st. inversion (root note at the top of the chord): G# – B – E
E chord – 2nd. inversion (root note in the middle of the chord): B – E – G#
E chord – fingering:
Root inversion:
| Finger | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Note | E | G# | B |
1st. inversion:
| Finger | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Note | G# | B | E |
2nd. inversion:
| Finger | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| Note | B | E | G# |
E chord – Closely related scales and harmonic functions:
The E chord is the 1st. step in the E major scale
| Step | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Chord | E | F#m | G#m | A | B | C#m | D#m(b5) |
The E chord is the 4th. step in the B major scale
| Step | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Chord | B | C#m | D#m | E | F# | G#m | A#m(b5) |
The Eb chord is the 5th. step in the Ab major scale
| Step | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Chord | Ab | Bbm | Cm | Db | Eb | Fm | Gm(b5) |
The E chord is the 3rd. step in the C# minor scale
| Step | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Chord | C#m | D#m(b5) | E | F#m | G#m | A | B |