E Major Pentatonic Scale

1Composition: what it contains

E – F♯ – G♯ – B – C♯

Formula

1 2 3 5 6

Steps

W – W – W+H – W – W+H

Number of notes

5

Sharps and flats

3 ♯

Also called

pentatonic major, Chinese scale (loosely)

2Appearance: diagrams and sound

Tip: click any note, key or fret to hear it. Orange = root.

3Indications: what it is used for

Used in country, folk, pop, rock, gospel and many traditional musics worldwide. It fits major chords, I–IV–V progressions, major-key songs where you want safe, melodic soloing, and the I chord in a blues when you want a sweet, country-rock flavour. It is the major scale with the fourth and seventh removed (degrees 1-2-3-5-6), so it avoids the notes that clash with major chords. It shares its notes with the minor pentatonic starting on its sixth degree.

4Dosage: how to practise it

Ten minutes daily at 70–110 BPM. Learn the five positions on guitar and connect them, using slides into the major third. Practise in groups of three and four, and in 'skipping' patterns (1-3, 2-5, 3-6). On bass, build lines from 1-2-3-5-6 over a I–IV–V. On piano, play it over a left-hand major triad and use the black-key pentatonic as a fun first version. Finish with five minutes of call-and-response phrases with a backing track.

5Warnings and common mistakes

Because it uses the same shapes as the minor pentatonic, many players accidentally play minor-sounding licks over major chords: centre phrases on the major root and third. Over a minor chord it sounds wrong (major third). Over a major seventh chord it works, but the sixth can blur the sound; land on the third or fifth instead. Do not mistake it for the major blues scale, which adds the flat third.

6Interactions with chords, scales and keys

Chords that fit this scale

E Esus2 E6 Eadd9 E6/9

Same notes, different starting point

• C sharp Minor Pentatonic Scale

7Other presentations available

The same scale from every note

• C Major Pentatonic Scale
• D flat Major Pentatonic Scale
• D Major Pentatonic Scale
• E flat Major Pentatonic Scale
• F Major Pentatonic Scale
• F sharp Major Pentatonic Scale
• G Major Pentatonic Scale
• A flat Major Pentatonic Scale
• A Major Pentatonic Scale
• B flat Major Pentatonic Scale
• B Major Pentatonic Scale

Other scales from the same note

• E Major Scale
• E Natural Minor Scale
• E Harmonic Minor Scale
• E Melodic Minor Scale
• E Dorian Mode
• E Phrygian Mode
• E Lydian Mode
• E Mixolydian Mode
• E Locrian Mode
• E Minor Pentatonic Scale
• E Blues Scale
• E Major Blues Scale
• E Whole Tone Scale
• E Half-Whole Diminished Scale
• E Whole-Half Diminished Scale
• E Phrygian Dominant Scale
• E Hungarian Minor Scale
• E Lydian Dominant Scale
• E Altered Scale
• E Double Harmonic Major Scale
• E Bebop Dominant Scale