F sharp major: scale and chords

The F sharp major scale and key signature

F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯

Key signature: six sharps, written F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯ E♯. On a piano that is all five black keys (F♯ G♯ A♯ C♯ D♯) plus two white ones: B, and F, which this key calls E♯. Whole and half steps: W W H W W W H.

On the treble staff the six sharps sit on the top line (F♯), in the third space (C♯), above the staff (G♯), on the fourth line (D♯), in the second space (A♯) and in the top space (E♯). On the bass clef: the fourth line, the second space, the top space, the middle line, the bottom space and the third space.

Why E♯, not F. A major scale uses each letter once. After D♯ the next letter is E, and the note a semitone below F♯ is the white key F, so here it's called E♯. Spelled F, the scale would have both F and F♯ and no E at all. So in F♯ major every F is sharp, and every E is E♯.

Remembering the order. Sharps are always added F C G D A E B ("Father Charles Goes Down And Ends Battle"); flats run the same letters backwards, B E A D G C F. In a major key with sharps the last sharp is a semitone below the key's name: E♯, so F♯ major.

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: F♯4 370.0 · G♯4 415.3 · A♯4 466.2 · B4 493.9 · C♯5 554.4 · D♯5 622.3 · E♯5 698.5

Play the scale

The F sharp major chord (F♯) on guitar and piano

F♯ A♯ C♯

The F sharp major triad is F♯, A♯ and C♯: the keynote, a major third above it (four semitones) and the fifth (three more). It's the chord a song in this key comes home to, the I in the table below.

Guitar: 2 4 4 3 2 2 (low E to high E, x = not played). A barre: the index finger flat across the 2nd fret, the A and D strings at the 4th fret, G at the 3rd. It's the open E shape moved up 2 frets.

Without a barre: x x 4 3 2 2, ring finger on the 4th fret of the D string, middle finger on the 3rd fret of G, index across the 2nd fret of B and high E. Smaller still: x x x 3 2 2. Or put a capo on the 2nd fret and play the open E, A, B and C♯m shapes: they sound as F♯, B, C♯ and D♯m.

Ukulele: 3 1 2 1 (G C E A).

Piano: three black keys. The lowest of the group of three (F♯), the top of that group (A♯), and the lower of the next two (C♯). Right hand fingers 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1. First inversion A♯ C♯ F♯, second inversion C♯ F♯ A♯: the same shape works anywhere on the keyboard.

Play F♯

Chords in F sharp major

Tap a chord to hear it.

On guitar: F♯ 2 4 4 3 2 2 · G♯m 4 6 6 4 4 4 · A♯m x 1 3 3 2 1 · B x 2 4 4 4 2 · C♯ x 4 6 6 6 4 · D♯m x 6 8 8 7 6 · E♯° 1 2 3 1 x x. A♯m is the B♭m shape and E♯° sits where an F chord would.

Sevenths. F♯maj7 is F♯ A♯ C♯ E♯ (2 x 3 3 2 x); the dominant seventh C♯7, C♯ E♯ G♯ B (x 4 6 4 6 4), is the chord that pulls back to F♯.

The loop plays I–V–vi–IV: F♯ C♯ D♯m B.

F sharp major's relative minor (D♯ minor) and G flat major

G♭ major is G♭ A♭ B♭ C♭ D♭ E♭ F, six flats. On a piano or in a DAW it's the same sound and the same keys as F♯ major; written music picks whichever spelling fits around it, sharps next to B and C♯ major, flats next to D♭ and A♭ major. Chopin's "Black Key" Étude Op. 10 No. 5 is written in G♭. The relative minor is D♯ minor (six sharps), with flats E♭ minor. The key a fifth up, its dominant key C♯ major, has seven sharps and is mostly written as D♭ major; the subdominant key is B major, five sharps.

The parallel minor, F♯ minor, keeps the keynote and has only three sharps (F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E); its relative major is A major. F major, a semitone down, has one flat, B♭.

Chords and progressions in F♯ major

• I–V–vi–IV F♯ C♯ D♯m B: the loop above.
• I–IV–V F♯ B C♯: on guitar, capo 2 and E A B.
• ii–V–I G♯m7 C♯7 F♯maj7: the jazz cadence.
• IV–V–iii–vi B C♯ A♯m D♯m: the turn many Japanese pop choruses use, known there as the royal road progression.

F sharp major on piano: the black-key scale

The five black keys on their own are the F♯ major pentatonic scale, F♯ G♯ A♯ C♯ D♯; add B and E♯ and you have the full scale. Fingering: right hand 2 3 4 1 2 3 1 2, left hand 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4, both thumbs on B and E♯, the only white keys, and the long fingers on the black ones.

Is it the hardest key? To read, close to it: six sharps and an E♯. To play, it's one of the most comfortable, because the hand lies the way it is shaped. Chopin started his pupils on the B major scale rather than C, for that reason (Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Chopin: Pianist and Teacher, 1986). Irving Berlin, who wrote some 1,500 songs, played almost only in F♯ and used a transposing piano for every other key.

The F sharp major scale on guitar

Two octaves from F♯ on the 2nd fret of the low E string, frets 1 to 4:

It's the E major pattern two frets up, so with a capo on the 2nd fret every E major scale you know plays in F♯.

What plays

Drums, an organ bass and a pluck, the Brumm app's own sounds, four bars at 123 BPM, one chord per bar. The arrows move bass and chords a semitone; the drums stay.

Music in F sharp major

Chopin's Barcarolle Op. 60, his Nocturne Op. 15 No. 2 and Impromptu No. 2 Op. 36; Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 24 Op. 78 ("à Thérèse"); the Prelude and Fugue No. 13 in Book 1 of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier; Scriabin's Piano Sonata No. 4. Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony No. 45 is in F♯ minor and ends in F♯ major. Most of it is piano music, written by pianists for the black keys.

Keys that mix with F♯ major

On the Camelot wheel F♯ major is 2B (Open Key 7d). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 2A E♭ minor relative minor, the same seven notes
• 1B B major one step down
• 3B D♭ major one step up
• 4B A♭ major two steps up, the energy boost

Same keynote, the other mode: F♯ minor (11A), three notes apart.

Where F♯ major sits

Choir parts (soprano C4–G5, alto G3–D5, tenor C3–G4, bass F2–D4, where two part-writing guides agree): F♯4–F♯5 fits the soprano part; F♯3–F♯4 fits the tenor part; F♯2–F♯3 fits the bass part; no whole F♯-to-F♯ octave fits the alto part. Find your own range.

As a sub or an 808, the keynote is F♯1 at 46.2 Hz, or F♯2 at 92.5 Hz an octave up. Tune an 808 to F♯.

Then hum over it

The hum button opens Brumm with a short line in the key over a beat. Hum yours and it becomes an instrument. No account, no upload.

Sources

Scales and chords: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Camelot, Open Key: Mixed In Key, Mixgraph. Open strings: Wikipedia. Choir parts: Open Music Theory, Geneseo. Guitar shapes: Wikipedia, Barre chord. Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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