Major key
F sharp major
Its seven chords: F♯, G♯m, A♯m, B, C♯, D♯m, E♯dim.
- F♯1
- G♯2
- A♯3
- B4
- C♯5
- D♯6
- E♯7
- I–V–vi–IV
- F♯
- C♯
- D♯m
- B
- ii7–V7–Imaj7
- G♯m7
- C♯7
- F♯maj7
- I–IV–V
- F♯
- B
- C♯
- vi–IV–I–V
- D♯m
- B
- F♯
- C♯
- I–vi–IV–V
- F♯
- D♯m
- B
- C♯
- I–V–vi–iii–IV–I–IV–V
- F♯
- C♯
- D♯m
- A♯m
- B
- F♯
- B
- C♯
About F sharp major
The scale of F sharp major runs F♯ – G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – E♯, and the key has 6♯ in the signature (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯, E♯). Those seven notes are the raw material of everything on this page: each chord below is stacked from them alone, which is why the chords of F sharp major fit together so naturally.
Most music in F sharp major leans on three chords: F♯ (home), B (moving away) and C♯ (tension that wants to come home). Add the three minor chords of the key and you have six chords that cover almost every simple song; the seventh, E♯dim, is used as a passing chord.
F sharp major shares every note with E flat minor, its relative key, so the two have the same signature and the same seven chords. If the chords of a piece fit both lists, listen for the chord it starts and ends on to decide which key you are in. Not to be confused with F sharp minor, the parallel key on the same home note.
Its closest neighbours are D flat major, one fifth higher, and B major, one fifth lower. Each differs from F sharp major by a single note, which is why a short trip to one of them, a modulation, sounds so smooth. The dominant seventh of the key is C♯7.
Barre chords make F sharp major harder on guitar, but a capo on fret 6 turns the chords into the easy shapes C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, which is how many guitarists play in this key.
A good way to learn F sharp major: play the chords up the scale, then pick two progressions from this page and loop them for a few minutes with a metronome, first at 60 BPM, then faster.