Key reference

The key of E major

4 sharps · E – F♯ – G♯ – A – B – C♯ – D♯

E major has 4 sharps: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯. A piece in this key draws on E, F♯, G♯, A, B, C♯, D♯ and treats E as home.

The seven chords below are the ones built from those notes alone, which is why they sound like they belong together.

The key signature

The key signature of E major: F, C, G, D.

Order of sharps

F♯
C♯
G♯
D♯
A♯
E♯
B♯

This signature uses the first 4 of them: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯.

The notes of the key

These are the notes of the major scale on this tonic. See the E major scale for the degrees and step pattern.

E – F♯ – G♯ – A – B – C♯ – D♯

The seven diatonic chords

Build a triad on each degree using only notes from the key and the qualities fall into a fixed pattern. That pattern is the same in every major key, which is why progressions transpose so cleanly.

Degree	Roman	Chord	Notes	Function
1	I	E	E – G♯ – B	Tonic
2	ii	F♯m	F♯ – A – C♯	Predominant
3	iii	G♯m	G♯ – B – D♯	Tonic
4	IV	A	A – C♯ – E	Predominant
5	V	B	B – D♯ – F♯	Dominant
6	vi	C♯m	C♯ – E – G♯	Tonic
7	vii°	D♯dim	D♯ – F♯ – A	Dominant

Adding sevenths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of the key.

Roman	Chord	Notes
I	Emaj7	E – G♯ – B – D♯
ii	F♯m7	F♯ – A – C♯ – E
iii	G♯m7	G♯ – B – D♯ – F♯
IV	Amaj7	A – C♯ – E – G♯
V7	B7	B – D♯ – F♯ – A
vi	C♯m7	C♯ – E – G♯ – B
vii°	D♯m7♭5	D♯ – F♯ – A – C♯

Common progressions in E major

These are the same shapes you meet in every major key, written with this key’s chords.

I – V – vi – IV

EITonic
BVDominant
C♯mviTonic
AIVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

EITonic
C♯mviTonic
AIVPredominant
BVDominant

ii – V – I

F♯miiPredominant
BVDominant
EITonic

Related keys

Relationship	Key	Signature
Relative minor	C♯ minor	Same signature
Parallel minor	E minor	1 sharps
One step sharpwards	B major	One more sharp
One step flatwards	A major	One more flat

Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.