E Minor scale
E Minor scale for guitar.
The E Minor is a seven-note scale, also called Natural E Minor. Colored circles mark the tones in the diagram, with darker color highlighting the root notes. The root notes are always E tones. In the two-octave pattern, the first root note is on the 6th string, 12th fret.
E Minor 2 octaves
E Minor full fretboard
E Minor with note names
The scale displayed with its numeric formula and scale degrees.
| Formula | Notes | Intervals | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | E | Unison | Tonic |
| 2 | F# | Major second | Supertonic |
| b3 | G | Minor third | Mediant |
| 4 | A | Perfect fourth | Subdominant |
| 5 | B | Perfect fifth | Dominant |
| b6 | C | Minor sixth | Submediant |
| b7 | D | Minor seventh | Subtonic |
The E Minor scale consists of seven notes. These can be described as intervals, as semi-notes or steps on the guitar fingerboard, written as 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 from the first note to the next octave.
The E Minor is relative to G Major. Both scales include the same notes but their tonal center differ.
The E Minor is identical with the E Aeolian mode.
Beneficial to learn this scale is to observe the note steps starting from the root: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. The same formula applies for the whole neck.
These are chords built from the notes of this scale:
| Em, Em7, Em9, Em11 |
| F#dim, F#m7b5 |
| G, Gmaj7, G6, G6/9, Gmaj9, Gmaj13 |
| Am, Am7, Am6, Am9, Am11, Am13 |
| Bm, Bm7 |
| C, Cmaj7, C6, C6/9, Cmaj9 |
| D, D7, D6, D9, D11, D13 |
The tones in these chords correspond to the tones of the E Minor scale.
Start the audio and play along! Use notes from the scale in the diagram above.
Normal tempo: