E minor

E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F♯, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp, on the F. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major.

E minor

Relative key	G major
Parallel key	E major
Dominant key	B minor
Subdominant key	A minor
Component pitches
E, F♯, G, A, B, C, D

The E natural minor scale is:

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The E harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

Much of the classical guitar repertoire is in E minor, as this is a very natural key for the instrument. In standard tuning (E A D G B E), four of the instrument's six open (unfretted) strings are part of the tonic chord. The key of E minor is also popular in heavy metal music, as its tonic is the lowest note on a standard-tuned guitar.

Scale degree chords

The scale degree chords of E minor are:

• Tonic – E minor
• Supertonic – F-sharp diminished
• Mediant – G major
• Subdominant – A minor
• Dominant – B minor
• Submediant – C major
• Subtonic – D major

Notable compositions

• Charles-Valentin Alkan
  • Le festin d'Ésope, Op. 39, No. 12, from 12 etudes in all the minor keys
• Johann Sebastian Bach
  • Prelude and Fugue in E minor, BWV 548
  • English Suite No. 5, BWV 810
  • Partita for keyboard in E minor, BWV 830
  • Suite in E minor for solo lute, BWV 996
  • Bourrée in E minor, BWV 996
• Ludwig van Beethoven
  • String Quartet No. 8
  • Piano Sonata No. 27
• Johannes Brahms
  • Symphony No. 4
  • Cello Sonata No. 1
  • Fantasies, Op. 116 (5th movement)
  • Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119 (2nd movement)
• Frédéric Chopin
  • Nocturne in E minor
  • Piano Concerto No. 1
  • Waltz in E minor
  • Étude Op. 25, No. 5 "Wrong Note"
  • Prelude Op. 28, No. 4 "Suffocation"
• Franz Danzi
  • Horn Sonata Op. 44
• Gaetano Donizetti
  • String Quartet No. 18
• Antonín Dvořák
  • Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)
  • Piano Trio Op. 90
  • String Quartet No. 4
  • Slavonic Dance No. 2, Op. 46
  • Slavonic Dance No. 2, Op. 72
• Edward Elgar
  • Cello Concerto
  • Sea Pictures
  • Serenade for Strings
  • String Quartet
  • Violin Sonata
• Louise Farrenc
  • Piano Trio in E minor, Op. 45
• Edvard Grieg
  • Piano Sonata
• George Frideric Handel
  • Messiah (overture)
• Joseph Haydn
  • Symphony No. 44 (Trauer)
• Ignaz Holzbauer
  • Flute Concerto in E minor
• Margaret Ruthven Lang
  • Rhapsody in E minor, Op. 24
• Feliks Janiewicz
  • Violin concerto No. 5
• Karol Lipiński
  • Violin Concerto No. 3, Op. 24
• Franz Liszt
  • Malédiction, S. 121
• Felix Mendelssohn
  • Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35 (first pair)
  • Violin Concerto
  • String Symphony No. 3 in E minor, MWV N 3
  • String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44
  • Fugue in E minor, MWV W24
  • Albumblatt, Op. 117
• Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart
  • Rondo for Flute and Piano
• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  • Violin Sonata No. 21
  • Die Alte, K. 517
• Pietro Nardini
  • Sonata No. 6 for two violins and bass
• Niccolò Paganini
  • Caprice No. 3
  • Caprice No. 15
• Sergei Prokofiev
  • Montagues and Capulets
• Ferdinand Ries
  • Violin Concerto, Op. 24
• Franz Schubert
  • Piano Sonata in E minor, D. 566
  • Piano Sonata in E minor, D. 769A
  • Fugue in E minor for four hands, D. 952
• Dmitri Shostakovich
  • Piano Trio No. 2
  • Symphony No. 10
• Jean Sibelius
  • Symphony No. 1, Op. 39
• Bedřich Smetana
  • Die Moldau
  • String Quartet No. 1
• Sergei Rachmaninoff
  • Moments musicaux, Op. 16, No. 4
  • Symphony No. 2
  • Vocalise, Op. 34, No. 14
• Maurice Ravel
  • Le tombeau de Couperin
• Franz Xaver Richter
  • Flute Concerto in E minor
• Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
  • Scheherazade
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
  • Symphony No. 5
• Carl Maria von Weber
  • Horn Concertino
  • Piano Sonata No. 4 in E minor, Op. 70
• Ralph Vaughan Williams
  • Symphony No. 6
  • Symphony No. 9
• Giuseppe Verdi
  • String Quartet
• Antonio Vivaldi
  • Violin Concerto, Op. 11/2 RV 277

See also

• Key (music)
• Major and minor
• Chord (music)
• Chord notation