Guitar scale · pentatonic & blues
E Major Blues Scale
Major pentatonic with an added ♭3 passing tone for rich country-blues phrasing.
Tap any note to hear it.
E Major Blues Scale tab: all 5 positions
Each tab climbs from the low E string to the high e string. Play it up, then back down.
e|-------------------0-2-3-| B|---------------0-2-------| G|-----------0-1-----------| D|---------2---------------| A|-------2-----------------| E|-0-2-3-------------------|
e|-----------------------2-3-4-| B|-------------------2-5-------| G|-----------------4-----------| D|-----------2-4-5-------------| A|-------2-4-------------------| E|-2-3-4-----------------------|
e|-----------------------4-7-| B|-------------------5-7-----| G|---------------4-6---------| D|---------4-5-6-------------| A|-----4-7-------------------| E|-4-7-----------------------|
e|----------------------7-9-| B|----------------7-8-9-----| G|--------------9-----------| D|------------9-------------| A|-----7-9-10---------------| E|-7-9----------------------|
e|--------------------------------9-12-| B|---------------------------9-12------| G|-------------------9-11-12-----------| D|--------------9-11-------------------| A|------9-10-11------------------------| E|-9-12--------------------------------|
How to play E Major Blues on guitar
Find the root first: E is at fret 0 on the low E string and fret 7 on the A string. The blue notes on the diagram are every E on the neck; the gold ones are the rest of the scale's home chord (3, 5), the safest notes to land on at the end of a phrase.
Learn it one box at a time. Position 1, the E shape, sits at frets 0–3. Once it's under your fingers, move to position 2 (the D shape) and play the notes the two boxes share, then keep going up the neck. After all five, the scale joins up into one pattern across the whole fretboard.
Degrees
| Degree | Note |
|---|---|
| 1 | E |
| 2 | F# |
| ♭3 | G |
| 3 | G# |
| 5 | B |
| 6 | C# |
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Practise E Major Blues anywhere, even offline.
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Questions
- What notes are in the E Major Blues Scale?
- The E Major Blues Scale has 6 notes: E, F#, G, G#, B, C#.
- What is the formula of the major blues scale?
- 1 2 ♭3 3 5 6, which is the step pattern W H H W+H W W+H (W = whole step, H = half step).
- Where do I play E Major Blues on the guitar?
- The root E is at fret 0 on the low E string and fret 7 on the A string. Position 1 (the E shape) covers frets 0–3, and four more positions connect it up the neck.