E Major Pentatonic in Open Position
E, F#, G#, B and C# make up the E major pentatonic scale. The open low E, B and high E strings all fit, so an open position version needs very little fretting.
The root returns on the 12th fret and on the 7th fret of the A string. C# minor pentatonic shares the notes. Country-style licks and sweet rock melodies often use this scale, and soloing over a blues progression shows how it blends with the minor sound.
Play the E major pentatonic scale
Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.
Notes of the E major pentatonic scale
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones from root |
|---|---|---|---|
| E | 1 | Root | 0 |
| F# | 2 | Major 2nd | 2 |
| G# | 3 | Major 3rd | 4 |
| B | 5 | Perfect 5th | 7 |
| C# | 6 | Major 6th | 9 |
Structure
E major pentatonic scale notes:
How the major pentatonic scale is built:
The major pentatonic scale is built from the degrees 1 2 3 5 6, which gives the step pattern W-W-W+H-W-W+H (W = whole step, H = half step).
Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 2, 4, 7, 9. That makes it a 5-note scale.
E Major Pentatonic Scale Guitar Patterns
Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.
On one string (low E)
Box pattern — position 1
Box pattern — position 2
Box pattern — position 3
Box pattern — position 4
Box pattern — position 5
3 notes per string — position 1
The major pentatonic scale in other keys
Created by
Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher
