Guitar chord · Open shape · Standard tuning
E dominant 7 guitar chord (E7)
Place finger 2 on the 2nd fret of the A, finger 1 on the 1st fret of the G. Strum all six strings.
E – G♯ – B – D
Loop strum: down, down-up, up-down-up on 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &.
Next moves
2 fingers, 6 strings, chart notation 020100. Tap the chord box to hear it strummed, then play it string by string to check every note is ringing cleanly.
How to play E7
Finger numbers run 1 for the index to 4 for the little finger. String names are given as players say them — the low E is the thickest string (the 6th) and the high E is the thinnest (the 1st).
- 1st finger (index) — 1st fret, G string
- 2nd finger (middle) — 2nd fret, A string
- Play open: low E (6th), D (4th), B (2nd) and high E (1st) — strum them without fretting anything.
- Strum all six strings. Nothing is muted in this shape, so the chord should ring from the low E right through to the high E.
| String | Fret | Finger | Note it sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6th — low E | Open | — | E |
| 5th — A | 2nd fret | 2 (middle) | B |
| 4th — D | Open | — | D |
| 3rd — G | 1st fret | 1 (index) | G♯ |
| 2nd — B | Open | — | B |
| 1st — high E | Open | — | E |
Notes and intervals in E7
E7 is built from 4 notes: E, G♯, B and D.
- E — the root
- G♯ — the major 3rd
- B — the perfect 5th
- D — the flat 7th
Across the six strings the shape sounds E · B · D · G♯ · B · E from low to high, so some notes are doubled in different octaves — that is what gives an open guitar chord its width compared with the same chord on a keyboard.
What E7 is used for
E7 is E major with the ring finger lifted, so the open D string sounds the flat 7th. It is the V7 of A and the home chord of a blues in E, which makes this two-finger shape the workhorse of blues rhythm playing — and the open 4th string makes it ring far wider than any barred alternative.
Common mistakes with E7
- Keeping the ring finger down out of habit, which quietly turns E7 back into plain E major.
- The index finger muting the open B string next door to it.
- Parking on it. The flat 7th is unstable by design; E7 sounds best moving to A rather than held at the end of a phrase.
A first strum pattern
Count “1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &” — eighth notes (quavers). Strum down, down-up, up-down-up: down on 1, down on 2, up on the “&” of 2, up on the “&” of 3, down on 4, up on the “&” of 4. Keep your hand moving down and up all the time, and only touch the strings on the marked counts.
Start the strum loop above at 60–70 BPM and change chords on beat 1.
E dominant 7 FAQ
How do you play E dominant 7 on guitar?
Place finger 2 on the 2nd fret of the A, finger 1 on the 1st fret of the G. Strum all six strings. In chart notation it is 020100, low E string first.
What notes are in E dominant 7?
E, G♯, B and D: the root, the major 3rd, the perfect 5th and the flat 7th.
What chord comes after E dominant 7?
Common changes from E dominant 7: F major and F major 7. Practice the switch slowly with the strum loop, then speed it up.
Guitar chord data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.