F♯ major chord
Home in F♯ major, and the V that pulls toward B.
- How it sounds
- Bright and settled. F♯ to A♯ is four frets, and that gap gives it its warmth, while C♯ on top holds it steady. There’s no open grip. The lowest of its five grips is the E form, at the 2nd fret.
- Where it lives
- The I of F♯ major, the IV of D♭ major and the V of B major. In F♯ major it’s home; in B major it pulls the song back to B. In B harmonic minor it’s the V, and its third, A♯, is the raised seventh that leads back to B. In D♭ major the same chord is written G♭. Rock and pop, mostly in songs in B minor that use it as a major V. Hotel California, in B minor, goes to it straight after the opening Bm.
Voicings across the neck
F♯, A♯ and C♯ can be played in five places on the neck, each built from a different open chord shape. Neighbouring forms share a root, so each one hands over to the next, and together they run from the 2nd to the 14th fret before the cycle starts again. The E form at the 2nd fret is the fullest barre, all six strings. The D form at the 4th uses only the top four, which keeps it small and light.
- High E string: F♯ at fret 2
- B string: C♯ at fret 2
- G string: A♯ at fret 3
- D string: F♯ at fret 4
- A string: C♯ at fret 4
- Low E string: F♯ at fret 2
- High E string: A♯ at fret 6
- B string: F♯ at fret 7
- G string: C♯ at fret 6
- D string: F♯ at fret 4
- A string: not played
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: A♯ at fret 6
- B string: F♯ at fret 7
- G string: C♯ at fret 6
- D string: A♯ at fret 8
- A string: F♯ at fret 9
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: C♯ at fret 9
- B string: A♯ at fret 11
- G string: F♯ at fret 11
- D string: C♯ at fret 11
- A string: F♯ at fret 9
- Low E string: not played
- High E string: F♯ at fret 14
- B string: A♯ at fret 11
- G string: F♯ at fret 11
- D string: C♯ at fret 11
- A string: A♯ at fret 13
- Low E string: F♯ at fret 14
Formula
| Intervals | Notes | Semitones |
|---|---|---|
| R · M3 · P5: what each interval does in a chord | F♯ · A♯ · C♯ | 4 + 3 |
F♯ major is a root, a major third and a perfect fifth: F♯, A♯ and C♯, taken from the F♯ major scale by skipping every other note. Four then three is what makes a chord major. Turn the gaps round, three then four, and you get F♯ minor: F♯, A, C♯.
In these keys and scales
F♯ major turns up in twelve scales on the site, and the job it does depends on the scale. In F♯ major it’s the I, home. In B major and B harmonic minor it’s the V, the chord that pulls back home. In E♭ minor it’s the III (written G♭ there), the relative major inside the minor key, and as the VI of B♭ minor (G♭ there too) it’s a warm step away from home. The numeral beside each scale names the job, and the name opens that scale’s page.
| Family | Scales |
|---|---|
| Major | |
| Natural minor | |
| Harmonic minor | |
| Melodic minor | |
| Pentatonic |
Progressions
A lot of progressions in F♯ major start on F♯, and nearly all of them come back to it. In I–IV–V the other two chords keep returning to it. In I–V–vi–IV it opens the loop, and B at the end leads back round to it. V–I turns it the other way: there F♯ is the V, and it resolves to B.