E minor is a minor scale with one sharp note and can be played over G major chords, as with all scales on a guitar neck. Like all scales, however, E minor can be played from different positions with different finger placements and hand positions required for optimal playback.
CAGED shapes used for playing minor pentatonic scales can easily be applied to this key by remembering its relative major, F major. This will allow you to memorize patterns without needing to count frets up and down.
1. Open Position
Start practicing scales the right way with open position guitar practice – that is, playing them without pressing on any frets – this exercise helps commit scale shapes to memory without being dependent on scale boxes or TAB sheets, giving a platform on which to build speed as you play up and down slowly while making sure every string is correctly picked and no notes are skipped before gradually increasing your speed until you find one that feels natural for you. Give it your best shot; success takes practice!
E minor pentatonic is one of the more versatile open position scales and is widely utilized across musical genres such as rock, blues and jazz. Derived from natural minor scale, its appeal lies in its adaptability and ease of playing – simply place your index finger on each string’s first fret before placing middle and ring fingers at second fret; use pinkie as needed or leave out altogether to achieve optimal comfort!
To make playing this scale simpler, using a metronome is helpful in developing both speed and training your ears to hear intervals between notes in this scale. Set it at 80 bpm and pick out one note per click of the metronome; once this practice becomes habit, playing should feel natural and easier than ever!
Practice of the E minor pentatonic scale can also help you develop lead runs by moving up and down it in ascending/descending order, giving you a foundation from which you can develop melodic leads that add depth and soul to your playing. One such example can be heard in Albert King’s blues classic “Born Under a Bad Sign.” In this song, Albert’s use of open position of this scale gives it an especially soulful quality while simultaneously highlighting his outstanding guitar work.
2. Closed Position
If you’re looking for an effective way to build a minor scale, starting in closed position is an ideal way. This enclosure covers four frets with its root note appearing three times: on the 6th, 4th and 1st strings. To play it, assign one fret per finger of your left hand for practicing through this enclosure until muscle memory sets in; remembering to focus more on playing accurately than quickly!
This scale, known as the E natural minor scale, is closely related to G major. That means all its notes can also be found in G major, which makes it ideal for improvising over chord progressions in styles like rock and pop music. Minor chords have a more melancholic tone than major ones so using this scale will help create melodies or solos with a more melancholic sounding tone.
The E scale starts on its root note of E and ends one octave higher with C; its structure consists of whole (W)-half (H), so moving either up or down an octave simply involves repeating this pattern.
Notably, this scale shares its tonal center with the E Aeolian mode found in blues and rock music; many chords in these genres use this scale as their basis, making improvisation over them vital.
Once you’ve learned this enclosure, you can move on to mastering all five minor pentatonic scales for guitar. These five-note scales can be found across musical genres including rock, blues and jazz and are an easy way to develop harmonic awareness as well as for improvising solos in metal music riffs and solos. All can be played open or closed position relative to G major scale.
3. Extended Position
The extended position of E minor scale allows you to play a wider range of notes. Furthermore, it shares its interval structure with major scales – whole-half. As you move up the scale you must also move between each half step (W-H-W-H).
Finger positions for this position are similar to open position; however, your index finger will play on the second fret while your ring finger will play on the fourth, creating a complete grid of notes for improvisation or chords in E minor.
As you progress up the scale, its appearance changes gradually as its pattern reverts back to C-like shapes and adds note F# from its relative major scale (G major). When studying an E minor scale or chord progression it can be beneficial to look at its individual notes as well as associated chords for clarity.
This extension of the scale is especially helpful when playing blues guitar, creating a distinctive yet dark tone that works well with E minor pentatonic and Em7 chords – as evidenced by Albert King’s song, “Born Under a Bad Sign”.
When learning an extended position of this scale, it is best to begin from its open string position and move up one octave at a time. This will enable you to become acquainted with its notes while developing an appreciation of its rhythmic pattern.
Once you’ve mastered this, try adding other techniques, such as bending and tremolo, into your playing. These will add depth and emotion to your performances.
The diagram below depicts all five CAGED positions for E minor scale on fretboard. Each CAGED position is derived from one of its associated chords and features its own fingering patterns and fingering styles. To gain further understanding about CAGED method of learning guitar scales please see our Guide for CAGED Scale Learning on Guitar
4. Alternate Position
The E minor pentatonic scale is one of the most beloved scales in Western music for guitarists – and for good reason! This versatile tool can be applied across genres and can help both newcomers and more experienced guitarists alike to hone their craft. “Pentatonic” refers to how this scale consists of its 1st (root), 3rd (b3), 4th (p4), 5th (b5) and 7th degrees from natural minor scale – each playing one note per degree!
To be able to play the E minor pentatonic scale on guitar, you will first need to learn how to finger its open position version both ascending and descending order. This may prove challenging when learning from TAB sheets or scale boxes – try practicing slowly first in order to memorize its patterns until it comes easy for you.
This E minor scale shape is one of the simpler open position E minor scale shapes due to its consistent fingering on all three strings, as well as being versatile enough for use across various key centers such as A major and F# minor. Just be mindful that its third fret note on B requires you to move your index finger over to that string if improvising across many key centers!
The E-Dorian scale works well in both D major and B minor keys, though its complexity differs from previous open position scales in that you need to change fingering for both ascending and descending notes. Once familiarized, however, this scale becomes quite straightforward to play: best approach would be anchoring index fingers over 2nd fret of each string while using middle and ring fingers respectively to play three notes from 3rd and four from 4th fret respectively.
Now that you understand the seven different open position E minor pentatonic scale shapes, it is time to put them into practice! Find songs featuring these scales – Nothing Else Matters by Metallica, Seven Nation Army by White Stripes and Purple Haze by Jimi Hendrix are popular examples – and play along!