The E chord
The E chord is warm, settled and direct. Its notes (E - G# - B) form a major triad, which is why it shows up across campfire songs and stadium choruses. Songwriters pick the E when they want a singalong opening, and on guitar it sits easily under standard open chord shapes. The lowest open root chord on a guitar, which means the whole instrument resonates underneath it. The voicings, theory, progressions and song references that follow are organised so you can skim once or settle in for the full picture.
Hear the E in the chord builder →Voicings for E
Common ways to grip the E on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.
Guitar , full chord shapes
CAGED-derived voicings for E across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.
Guitar , triad shapes
Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.
Piano voicings
Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.
The theory behind E
Progressions that use E
Short progressions that put the E to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.
The four-chord engine behind a thousand pop hits. The lift from I to V opens the chorus, vi pulls down into feeling, IV walks back toward home.
→ Build this in the chord builderThe four-chord engine behind a thousand pop hits. The lift from I to V opens the chorus, vi pulls down into feeling, IV walks back toward home.
→ Build this in the chord builderThe four-chord engine behind a thousand pop hits. The lift from I to V opens the chorus, vi pulls down into feeling, IV walks back toward home.
→ Build this in the chord builderHeroic minor four-chord. The descent from i to VI to III gives the verse weight, VII slingshots back to the tonic. The Andalusian cousin of the pop axis.
→ Build this in the chord builderSongs that feature E
Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.
- Hotel California by Eagles. Em alternates with this E chord in the bridge.
- Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd. E appears as part of the country-rock turn.
- Wild Thing by The Troggs. E is one of the three chords powering the song.
Related chords
Chords a step away from the E in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.
Keys where E lives
The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.
Related references
Other ways to put the E to work across the reference library.
More songwriting tools
Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the E fits into context. All free, no signup.
About the chord builder
The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.
This page is a static reference for the E. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.