How many sharps does E minor have?

One: F# — same as its relative major, G major.

The E natural minor scale — notes, intervals, and pattern

The E natural minor scale has one sharp — F# — and shares its notes with G major. It's the most-used minor key on guitar by a wide margin: the lowest open string is E, and many of the easiest open chords (Em, G, D, C) live inside this scale.

Interval pattern

The E natural minor scale is built from this fixed pattern of whole steps (W) and half steps (H):

Wwhole
Hhalf
Wwhole
Wwhole
Hhalf
Wwhole
Wwhole

Every natural minor scale uses this same pattern. The half-steps fall between scale degrees 2–3 and 5–6.

Scale degrees and intervals

Each note of the scale, with its scale-degree name and interval from the root:

Degree	Note	Interval from root	Function
1	E	Root	Tonic
2	F#	M2	Supertonic
3	G	m3	Mediant
4	A	P4	Subdominant
5	B	P5	Dominant
6	C	m6	Submediant
7	D	m7	Subtonic / Leading tone

In melody and improvisation

Heavy metal, blues, folk, and singer-songwriter music all live in E minor. The dropped-tuning variants on rock guitar are typically still in or near E minor. The natural-minor flavour without raised 7ths gives it a modal, ancient feel — many film scores use E natural minor specifically for that quality.

Relative key

The E natural minor scale shares its notes with G major. Same seven pitches, different tonal centre — when a piece moves between them, no accidentals change.

Common mistakes

E natural minor and E harmonic minor are easy to confuse. Harmonic raises the 7th from D to D#, which gives a much stronger leading tone and a "Spanish" or "Eastern" sound on the V → i cadence. Most modern rock and folk uses natural; classical and flamenco often use harmonic.

Drill it

The Interval Trainer gives you a root note and an interval, and asks you to name the result. Practising the intervals of the E natural minor scale is the fastest way to internalise it as a melodic shape rather than a memorised string of notes.

Open the Interval Trainer →Or drill key signatures

Frequently asked

What are the notes in the E natural minor scale?: E, F#, G, A, B, C, D.
How many sharps does E minor have?: One: F# — same as its relative major, G major.
What is the relative major of E minor?: G major.