How to Play the E Chord on Guitar (2024)

Mastering the E chord will help any guitarist dive into different styles of music. It is found in different genres such as rock, surf, classical, and ska.And it’s a useful one to know because it often crops up in music written in the common keys of A and B.

In this guide, we will explore the E chord. We’ll look at:

• How to play the most common E chord shapes
• How to play a barre (bar) chord – and why it can be challenging
• How to play the E chord more easily and make it sound cleaner

What is an E Chord?

The E chord on the guitar consists of three notes: E, G# and B. These are the first, third and fifth notes in the E major scale. The first note is called the “root note”.

Sometimes these notes will occur more than once on different strings. But together, they form the E major guitar chord, commonly known as “E”.

How to Play the E Chord on Guitar: E Chord Guitar Tips

The image to the left is an E major chord. The image to the right is an E minor chord.

If we listen to the two chords one at a time, we’ll hear the difference. It’s only one note, but it gives each chord a distinct “quality”.

Major chords can be said to sound “happy” and minor chords are sometimes described as “sad”.

To learn how to play these chords, we can use a chord diagram.

How to Understand Chord Diagrams

A chord diagram is a useful tool for learning chords. It tells us which strings to play, and which fingers to use.

The Left-Hand Fingers

We number the left-hand fingers 1 to 4.

1 is the index or pointer finger. And 4 is the little finger.

E Chord Diagram

Let’s take a look at a common E chord shape.

Steps to Play the E Major Chord:

• Step 1: Place finger 1 on the 1st fret of the third string (g string)
• Step 2: Place finger 2 on the 2nd fret of the fifth string (a string)
• Step 3: Place finger 3 on the 2nd fret of the fourth string (d string)
• We can place the right-hand thumb on the 6th string and strum all of the strings

It might be a tight squeeze getting the second finger and the third finger on the same fret. But with a little practice, it’ll begin to feel like second nature. Especially if we get our left hand in the best position.

E Minor Chord Diagram

Let’s look at the diagram for the E minor chord.

Steps to Play an Em Chord:

• Step 1: Finger 2 on the 2nd fret of the 5th string (a string)
• Step 2: Finger 3 on the 2nd fret of the 4th string (d string)

Give the E minor chord a few strums and get it to sound as clean as possible. We need to ensure we’re not touching any of the open strings with the inside of our palm.

Don’t worry if you get a few buzzes. This is normal when learning new chords on the guitar.

Barre Chords

Note for beginners: Feel free to skip this section. You can return to it later if you choose.

A bar (barre) chord substitutes the first finger for the nut (fret zero) of the guitar. The first finger lays across two or more strings, while the other fingers fret other notes. By eliminating open strings, we can play chords all over the guitar neck.

Playing barre chords can be difficult. Our fretting hand can get tired quickly. And we can mute strings by mistake or get unwanted buzzing sounds.

One of the most common issues with bar chords is excess tension. We tend to press too hard. Over time this may lead to injury.

Selective pressure will help with any bar chord. This means paying close attention to which strings we press for a given chord. Then we can press with more appropriate pressure where we need it, and avoid pressing too hard where we don’t.

With the right technique, we can play bar chords more easily.

The E Major Barre Chord Diagram

We can use a bar to play an E chord. (Strictly speaking, it doesn’t use all six strings, so it’s a partial bar.)

This is harder than the “open” E major chord above. But it’s worth the effort, as it’s a common moveable chord shape.

Steps to Play the Five-String E Major Barre Chord:

• • Step 1: Finger 1 on the 7th fret, strings 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1

• • Step 2: Finger 2 on the 9th fret of the 4th string

• • Step 3: Finger 3 on the 9th fret of the 3rd string

• • Step 4: Finger 4 on the 9th fret of the 2nd string

• • The 6th string is not played

We can use selective pressure with this version of the E chord. If we’re able, we can relax the bar on strings 2, 3 and 4 because other fingers are fretting those strings.

Don’t worry if this seems difficult. It can take some time to master!

The E Minor Barre Chord Diagram

We can also use a bar to play an E minor chord. This is harder than the “open” E minor chord above, but it’s a common moveable chord shape.

Steps to Play the Five-String E minor Barre Chord:

• • Step 1: Finger 1 on the 7th fret, strings 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1

• • Step 2: Finger 2 on the 8th fret of the 2nd string

• • Step 3: Finger 3 on the 9th fret of the 4th string

• • Step 4: Finger 4 on the 9th fret of the 3rd string

• • The 6th string is not played

Ways to Play the E Barre Chord More Easily

Here are three common problems – and some tips to make the barre E chord easier. (It’s not all down to index finger strength.)

Muted or Buzzing Strings

A good hand position on the guitar fretboard is the key here.

It’s good practice to keep our thumb centered behind the seventh fret. And it helps to think of the bar as levered, rather than squeezed.

We might need to adjust the position of our index finger so that the strings don’t nestle into the inside creases of our knuckles.

We’ll also get a better sound if we roll our barring finger slightly to the side. We use the bony part, rather than the softer part.

It helps to keep all the other fingers up on their tips. This ensures we don’t accidentally touch adjacent strings.

We also keep our fingertips just behind the metal frets, but we don’t touch them.

Hand and Finger Fatigue

It’s a good idea to take regular breaks during our practice sessions.

Hand and finger stretching exercises help warm up tendons, ligaments, and muscles.

We can also practice touching the strings lightly without actually exerting any pressure. This saves energy.

Clumsy Chord Changes

It sounds counter-intuitive, but practicing changing chords slowly speeds us up.

We’re more likely to be accurate. And this consistency will gradually build up strength, dexterity, and speed.

We can also try to position our fingers in the chord shape above the fret before we press down on the strings. Proprioception helps us learn guitar chords and switch chords faster and more securely.

Wrist Position

The wrist positions the fingers. So we can play more easily and consistently if the wrist puts our fingers in the best place.

The ideal left-hand position is the “C” shape. This shape allows for freedom of movement and stretch.

As a general rule, the best wrist position is one that keeps our big knuckles parallel to the side of the fretboard. This keeps all four fingers over the strings.

However, when we need more than one finger on the same fret, we can tilt our wrist. This change of position brings our fingertips more in line with the fret. And this makes it easier to keep each finger just behind the fret.

We must remember to return to the original position when we shift to new chords or notes.

How to Play the E Chord with a Right-Hand Pattern

Right-hand patterns allow us to get different sounds and textures from the guitar. Learning different patterns is a great musical and technical exercise. Right-hand patterns build dexterity and control.

First, we call the right-hand fingers:

• • P – Thumb

• • I – Index

• • M – Middle

• • A – Ring Finger

• • C – Little Finger (Pinky)

One common pattern is PIMA (thumb, index, middle, ring). The PIMA pattern appears in many different styles of music.

First, form the partial bar E chord with the left hand.

Then with the right hand, the I, M, and A fingers prepare on strings 1, 2, and 3. The thumb prepares to play the 4th string.

Here are the steps for the PIMA right-hand fingerpicking pattern:

• • Step 1: P (thumb) plays the open 4th string

• • Step 2: I (index) plays the 3rd string

• • Step 3: M (middle) plays the 2nd string

• • Step 4: A (ring) plays the 1st string

• • Repeat the pattern in a steady rhythm.

Another common pattern played with chords is the “outside-in” fingerpicking pattern.

Classical Guitar Technique for More Effective Right-Hand Ability

Right-hand positioning and patterns are an important focus of classical guitar technique.

We have proven methods of form, positioning, and movement. And these make fluid and beautiful playing possible.

Much of classical guitar technique is non-intuitive. So self-learners may miss ways to make playing easier and more graceful.

If you’d like to play guitar with power and ease, consider The Woodshed® Classical Guitar Program.

Members go step-by-step from the beginning, or fill in any gaps in their current abilities. And this means they quickly hear themselves playing smooth, effortless music. Click here to explore the course.

Music Theory: What is a Chord?

Music theory is a tool that can help us better understand music. Theory explains how notes and chords work together to create the music we know and love.

Do we need to learn music theory? No. At least not as beginners. Practicing chords and learning to use our hands on the guitar is more important. All the abstract background knowledge can come later if desired.

But if you are interested, in this section we’ll discuss the musical alphabet.

The musical alphabet uses only the notes named A, B, C, D, E, F, and G.

These notes can be altered by raising or lowering the pitch. In music, we call this making a note sharp (raising) or flat (lowering).

• • On the guitar, we sharpen a note by moving one fret higher

• • To flatten a note, we move one fret lower

In all, this gives us 12 notes. These same 12 notes repeat going higher and/or lower. Think of the same pattern of black notes (groups of two and three) repeating up the length of a piano.

A piece of music rarely uses all 12 notes. Instead, we limit the notes to a “key.” A key in music is a unique collection of just seven notes.

The Key of E, for example, contains the notes:

E F# G# A B C# D# E

This is the E major scale.

To create the E chord, we take the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes from this group of notes.

So the notes in the E chord are E, G#, and B.

We can play these notes in any combination all over the fretboard. As long as we play these notes together, we are playing an E Major chord (or just “E chord”).

The most common version we see is the E chord where all three fingers are on fret two. This version has three E’s, one G#, and two B’s.

There’s more to learn about the relationship between chords and scales.

Chords that Sound Good with the E Chord

The most common chords played with the E chord are:

A Major Chord

B Major Chord

A7 Chord

B7 Chord

Other chords that sound good with E Major are:

C# minor

G# minor

We can find notes to all these chords within the E major scale. The chords can appear in any order and duration, depending on the piece or song.

One of the best skills we can learn as guitarists is how to practice chords. It’s helpful in pieces of music to switch quickly between chords.

Chord Progressions

A chord progression is one chord moving to another chord. Most songs in Western music follow a chord progression.

We can use as few as two chords in a progression, or as many as we want.

Here are two common chord progressions:

You can also create your own songs or pieces by putting together chords in any way you like.

Popular Pieces With the E Chord

The E chord appears in hundreds of songs and pieces of music. From Albeniz to Liszt, from ABBA to ZZ Top, the E chord is commonly used across time, culture, and genre.

Many popular songs use the E chord. Here are a few:

• • Isaac Albeniz – “Asturias (Leyenda)”
  • Francisco Tárrega – “Adelita”
  • Francisco Tárrega – “Lágrima”
  • J.S. Bach – “Musette”
  • Antonio Vivaldi – “Largo from Concerto for Lute in D Major, RV. 93”
  • Anonymous – “Greensleeves”
  • Andalusian Folk Song – “El Vito”
  • American Folk Song – “Oh Shenandoah”
  • Celtic (Traditional) – “Whiskey Before Breakfast”
  • Oasis – “Wonderwall”
  • Elvis Presley – “Can’t Help Falling in Love”
  • John Lennon – “Imagine”