E minor pentatonic scale on piano
E minor pentatonic has 5 notes: E G A B D. Degrees: 1 ♭3 4 5 ♭7. Formula: W+H W W W+H W.
What notes are in the E minor pentatonic scale?
E, G, A, B and D. It has 5 notes; its formula in whole and half steps is W+H W W W+H W.
What does E minor pentatonic sound like, and when do you use it?
The foundation of rock and blues: five notes that never clash. Use it over m7, and above all the blues (I7, IV7, V7).
To hear it: Stairway to Heaven (solo) — Led Zeppelin.
Chord progressions to improvise with E minor pentatonic
In Jam mode (the Jam button above) a band of grand piano, upright bass and drums (recorded instruments) plays these progressions as swing, bossa, groove or ballad, and the keyboard lights up the notes of each chord as it plays. It's a backing track made for this scale in E:
- Blues (I7–IV7–V7): 12 bars over E7, A7 and B7. The 12-bar blues: three 7 chords with the scale on top. The clash between the ♭3 and the chord's 3rd is the blues.
- Minor vamp (i7–iv7): Em7 | Am7. i7–iv7: five notes that never clash. Try short phrases that answer the drums.
- Rock (i–♭VII–♭VI): Em | D | C | D. The classic minor rock riff, for the classic pentatonic.
E minor pentatonic on the keyboard
It is played on the white keys only. On the interactive keyboard above you can hear it, show its degrees or intervals and practice its chords.
Same notes as
G major pentatonic · A Egyptian (suspended) · D major blues pentatonic · D Yo
Minor pentatonic in other keys
On other instruments
E minor pentatonic on guitar · E minor pentatonic on bass · All scales