E minor: scale and chords

The E minor scale: natural, harmonic and melodic

E F♯ G A B C D

Key signature: one sharp, F♯, on the top line of the treble staff and the fourth line of the bass staff: the same as G major. Whole and half steps: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole; the half steps are F♯–G and B–C.

Natural minor: E F♯ G A B C D. Harmonic minor: E F♯ G A B C D♯, the D♯ a half step under the keynote, the gap C–D♯ a step and a half. Melodic minor: E F♯ G A B C♯ D♯ going up, E D C B A G F♯ E coming down.

Play harmonic minor Play melodic minor

Piano fingering for all three forms: right hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5, the thumb on E and A; left hand 5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1, the 3rd finger crossing over to C.

Guitar, open position: low E open, 2 and 3 (E, F♯, G), A string open, 2 and 3 (A, B, C), D string open and 2 (D, E). For harmonic minor, play D♯ at the 1st fret of the D string in place of the open D.

Harmonic minor's B7 (B D♯ F♯ A) is the chord that pulls back to Em.

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: E4 329.6 · F♯4 370.0 · G4 392.0 · A4 440.0 · B4 493.9 · C5 523.3 · D5 587.3

Play the scale

E minor scale on guitar · E minor pentatonic scale · E minor scale on piano

The E minor chord (Em) on guitar and piano

E G B

Em is E, G and B: root, minor third, perfect fifth. G is three semitones above E; in E major it would be G♯, four.

Guitar: 0 2 2 0 0 0 (low E to high E): middle finger on the A string, ring finger on the D string, both at the 2nd fret, all six strings strummed. It is the easiest full chord on the guitar and one of the first taught.

Em7 takes one finger, 0 2 0 0 0 0, or rings fuller as 0 2 2 0 3 0. Barre: x 7 9 9 8 7 (x = not played), the Am shape at the 7th fret.

Piano: E, G and B, three white keys. Right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1. Inversions: G B E (Em/G) and B E G (Em/B).

Play Em

Chords in E minor

Tap a chord to hear it.

Em (tonic), Am (subdominant) and Bm (dominant), which most songs play as B or B7 from harmonic minor: Em Am B7 Em. Every chord in the table except F♯° and Bm has an open guitar shape.

The loop plays i–VI–III–VII: Em C G D.

Keys that mix with E minor

On the Camelot wheel E minor is 9A (Open Key 2m). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 9B G major relative major, the same seven notes
• 8A A minor one step down
• 10A B minor one step up
• 11A F♯ minor two steps up, the energy boost

E minor and G major share the one sharp and all seven notes. Same keynote, the other mode: E major (12B), four sharps, three notes apart (G♯, C♯, D♯). E minor is not E♭ minor, a semitone lower: E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭, six flats (B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭ C♭), the same keys as D♯ minor; its relative major is G♭ major.

Where E minor sits

Choir parts (soprano C4–G5, alto G3–D5, tenor C3–G4, bass F2–D4, where two part-writing guides agree): E4–E5 fits the soprano part; E3–E4 fits the tenor part; no whole E-to-E octave fits the alto or bass parts. Find your own range.

As a sub or an 808, the keynote is E1 at 41.2 Hz, or E2 at 82.4 Hz an octave up. Tune an 808 to E.

What plays

Drums, an organ bass and a pluck, the Brumm app's own sounds, four bars at 123 BPM, one chord per bar. The arrows move bass and chords a semitone; the drums stay.

E minor pentatonic on guitar

Five notes: E G A B D. In open position every string plays open and one fretted note, so it needs no stretch at all:

The same box sits again at the 12th fret, an octave up. The E blues scale adds B♭: E G A B♭ B D.

Play the pentatonic Play the blues scale

Why is E minor so popular on guitar?

Standard tuning is E A D G B E. Every open string is a note of E minor, and the lowest and the highest are the keynote. A riff can lean on the open low E, E2 at 82.4 Hz, while the fretting hand moves above it; that is E minor's place in rock and metal. On a bass the open E is E1, 41.2 Hz.

How does E minor make you feel?

In equal temperament E minor has the same intervals as every other minor key; what sets it apart on guitar is that every open string rings. The old key-character lists still get quoted: Christian Schubart (Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst, 1806) heard in E minor a naive, innocent declaration of love and a lament without grumbling. He wrote for tunings in which keys did sound different.

Chord progressions in E minor

Pieces and songs in E minor

• Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 "From the New World", Op. 95 (1893)
• Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto, Op. 64. Elgar: Cello Concerto, Op. 85
• Brahms: Symphony No. 4. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5. Chopin: Prelude Op. 28 No. 4 and Piano Concerto No. 1
• Bach: the Bourrée from the Lute Suite, BWV 996
• "Nothing Else Matters" (Metallica), "Seven Nation Army" (The White Stripes)

"Brown Eyed Girl", which some lists put here, is in G major, E minor's relative.

Then hum over it

The hum button opens Brumm with a short line in the key over a beat. Hum yours and it becomes an instrument. No account, no upload.

Sources

Scales and chords: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Camelot, Open Key: Mixed In Key, Mixgraph. Open strings: Wikipedia. Choir parts: Open Music Theory, Geneseo. Guitar shapes: Wikipedia, Barre chord. Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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