Practice playing E Major Guitar Chord.

Janvi Arora

1 October, 2024
8 min read

The world of music theory seems enchanting, something only professionals can understand and relate to. But embarking on a musical is not that difficult. You can start with the basic chords and slowly gain confidence to move towards complex chords.

Speaking of the basics of musical theory, we have the E major guitar chord. It is one of the simplest chords out there, and it can help you interpret, compose, and even appreciate different forms of music on a much deeper level.

With this blog, we aim to improve your finger placement and techniques for playing the E major guitar chord on the guitar. Combining this particular chord with A major, B major, and D major can help you kick-start your jamming sessions with other guitarists. So, without waiting any further, let’s find out what makes the E guitar chord the quintessential chord for beginners to learn.

Learn various chords in the chord series by torrins.

What is The E Chord?

The E chord in guitar is said to be one of the most important open chords for beginners because its finger placement is more natural. You don’t need to put extra pressure on your fingers or squeeze them over the fret to play it correctly.

In addition, the E major guitar chord perfectly fits with the A, B, and D chords on guitar, giving you the ability to play tons of songs, such as “Born In The USA” by Bruce Springsteen, “I Can’t Explain” by The Who, and many more.

The E chord on guitar, especially on acoustic guitars, has a rich resonance, making it a staple in the world of music composition. As a result, you can find its presence in rock anthems and ballads. Even one of the most rock songs, “Hotel California,” by The Eagles, uses the E chord to create the mesmerizing progression at the beginning of the song.

You can learn acoustic guitar through our beginner guitar lessons.

Notes Present in E Major Guitar Chord?

The E major chord is made from three notes: E, G#, and B. The triad of E major starts from the root note E, and then G# is the middle note of the chord, which defines whether the chord will be major or minor. Lastly, the B note is the top note of the E major chord, which is used to add weight and density.

How To Play the E Major Guitar Chord?

There are multiple ways to play the E major chord on guitar, so you can choose any variation depending on the requirements of the songs and chords you will be playing alongside it. One thing to keep in mind when playing the E chord is to strum all six strings.

Here, we are going to show you the most basic way of playing the E major guitar chord. Once you get the hang of it, you can move on to the more complex finger patterns showcased in the section below.

Even this standard version of the E major chord has a more resonating sound than the other chords, as it is made from the following notes: E, B, E, G#, B, E. The sound of the E major guitar chord will always stand out because you are strumming all six strings together, giving it a full-bodied sound.

Step – 1: Place your index finger (1) on the 1st fret at the 3rd string.
Step – 2: Now put your middle finger (2) on the 2nd fret at the 5th string.
Step – 3: Put your ringer finger (3) on the 2nd fret at the 4th string.
Step – 4: Strum all six strings from bottom to top.

Different Variations of E Major Guitar Chord

Even though the E chord is an open chord, it still leaves some room for you to play around. Below are the two main inversions of the E chord that you can practice playing. In addition, even the basic version of the E chord can be used to include sevenths and sixths to add fun sound tones in your music composition.

E Chord Lighter Variation

This E chord variation is easy to move around when you play it with other chords. You will start playing this variation from the root note, giving the sound a lighter and more happy tone in general.

Step – 1: Place your index finger (1) on the 1st fret at the 3rd string.
Step – 2: Put your middle finger (2) on the 2nd fret at the 4th string.
Step – 3: Strum strings from 1st to 4th, leave 5th and 6th string.

E Chord 1st Inversion

This variation is going to be a 4-string E chord. We are going to start from the 4th fret in order to line up the E major chord with the G sharp in the bass. This is also known as the first inversion of the E chord because the third note of the chord is present in the bass.

Step – 1: Place your index finger (1) across the 4th fret at the 1st and 3rd string.
Step – 2: Put your middle finger (2) on the 5th fret at the 2nd string.
Step – 3: Put your ring finger (3) on the 6th fret at the 4th string.
Step – 4: Now strum strings from 1st to 4th.

E Chord 2nd Inversion

In this variation, we are again going down the fretboard until the 7th fret. Here, we get the E with the B in the bass, resulting in the second inversion. If you are feeling bored playing the same tone for the E major guitar chord, you can use this inversion to add flair to your composition and make it more interesting.

Step – 1: Place your index finger (1) on the 7th fret at the 1st string.
Step – 2: Put your ring finger (3) on the 9th fret at the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string to form a barre.
Step – 3: Strum strings from 1st to 4th.

Songs That Use E Major Guitar Chord

From the memorable “I Still Haven’t Found What I Am Looking For” by U2 to “Glory Days” by Bruce Springsteen, here is a list of songs that use the melody of the E chord to become memorable musical anthems of their time.

Rock Songs

We’re starting our list with rock songs because this genre has the most songs that you can play by learning just three chords: E, A, and D.

Goner by Twenty-One Pilots
Hound Dog by Elvis Presley
Desire by U2
Houses Of The Holy by Led Zeppelin
For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield

You can visit styles & genres based guitar series by torrins to learn more.

Bollywood Songs

Channa Mereya by Arijit Singh
Raabta by Arijit Singh
Pehli Nazar Mien by Atif Aslam
Tere Sang Yaara by Atif Aslam
Mann Bharya by B Praak

Explore our Bollywood guitar song lessons to know more.

Best Practices To Play E Barre Chord On Guitar

If you are a beginner, playing the E chord perfectly is going to take some time. We recommend you start with 10-minute sessions daily for practicing the E chord. Once the 10 minutes are over, you can move to the next chord and come back to it later after practicing 2 or 3 other chords on the same day. The goal here is to keep practicing until you can’t get it wrong, not until you start getting it right.

When you are practicing the E chord on the guitar, you may encounter sounds that are not quite right, so in this section, we addressed these issues and showed how to solve them.

Muted & Buzzing Strings

If you cannot hear a clear sound or there’s a buzz coming from the guitar when you are strumming it, your fingers might be muting one or more chords. To get rid of this issue, you must ensure that all your fingers are properly arched, and you are putting equal force on each of them. Your slightest adjustment can do the trick, so don’t worry; just restrict your fingers to their position and strum all six strings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Strumming the E chord requires all six strings, whether playing the simple version or practicing a more complex finger pattern. Six strings are required in all the variations.

The very first string of the guitar from the top is called the E string. On the other hand, if you start counting the number of strings from the bottom, then the E string will come at the very end, making it the sixth string

Both A major and B major are considered great options for accompanying the E chord. If you practice these three chords long enough, you will find that more than thousands of songs can be easily played using just three of them.

The E major scale has 7 notes. Four of them are sharp notes, and the remaining 3 are natural notes. Here’s a list of all 7. E. F# G# A. B. C# D#