E Harmonic Minor: Open Position and Beyond

E, F#, G, A, B, C and D# spell the E harmonic minor scale. Open low E and high E strings ring the root, and every note except D# also belongs to E natural minor.

That D# sits just under the tonic, and the gap between C and D# is a wider step than anywhere else in the scale, which gives the exotic colour. Higher up, the root is on the 7th fret of the A string. For a practice routine, read practising scales in context.

Play the E harmonic minor scale

Use the step menu in the player to switch between the single-string run and the box shapes.

Notes of the E harmonic minor scale

NoteDegreeIntervalSemitones from root
E1Root0
F#2Major 2nd2
Gb3Minor 3rd3
A4Perfect 4th5
B5Perfect 5th7
Cb6Minor 6th8
D#7Major 7th11

Structure

E harmonic minor scale notes:

E F# G A B C D#

How the harmonic minor scale is built:

The harmonic minor scale is built from the degrees 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 7, which gives the step pattern W-H-W-W-H-W+H-H (W = whole step, H = half step).

Counting in semitones from the root: 0, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11. That makes it a 7-note scale.

It is the parent scale of its own modal family.

It is also known as Aeolian Maj 7.

E Harmonic Minor Scale Guitar Patterns

Static diagrams of every position shown in the player above.

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - On one string (low E)

On one string (low E)

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 1

Box pattern — position 1

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 2

Box pattern — position 2

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 3

Box pattern — position 3

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 4

Box pattern — position 4

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - Box pattern — position 5

Box pattern — position 5

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 1

3 notes per string — position 1

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 2

3 notes per string — position 2

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 3

3 notes per string — position 3

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 4

3 notes per string — position 4

E Harmonic Minor Scale scale guitar pattern - 3 notes per string — position 5

3 notes per string — position 5

Chords in the E harmonic minor scale

Stacking thirds on each degree of the scale gives these chords.

DegreeTriadSeventh chord
1 Em Em(maj7)
2 F#dim F#m7(b5)
b3 Gaug Gmaj7(b13)
4 Am Am7
5 B B7
b6 C Cmaj7
7 D#dim D#dim7

Related modes

These scales share the same notes as the harmonic minor scale, starting from a different degree.

Locrian #6 Scale Ionian #5 Scale Dorian #4 Scale Phrygian Dominant Scale Lydian #2 Scale Super Locrian bb7 Scale

The harmonic minor scale in other keys

C C# Db D D# Eb E F F# Gb G G# Ab A A# Bb B

All about the harmonic minor scale →

Giancarlo Facoetti, founder of FaChords Guitar

Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher