F♯ minor: chord and scale

The F♯ minor chord (F♯m) on guitar and piano

F♯ A C♯

F♯m is F♯, A and C♯: the keynote, the minor third and the fifth. It's the chord a song in F♯ minor comes home to, the i in the table below.

Guitar: 2 4 4 2 2 2 (low E to high E). A barre: the index finger flat across the 2nd fret, ring finger on the A string and little finger on the D string at the 4th. It's the open Em shape moved up 2 frets.

Without a barre: x x 4 2 2 2, the ring finger on the D string at the 4th fret and the index flat over the top three strings at the 2nd: the same chord on four strings. Or a capo at the 2nd fret and an open Em, which gives the full six-string F♯m. Softest of all, x x 4 2 2 0 lets the high E ring: that is F♯m7, and it fits many places where F♯m is written. F♯ major (F♯) without a barre: x x 4 3 2 2, F♯ A♯ C♯ F♯ on the top four strings.

Ukulele: 2 1 2 0 (G C E A): A, C♯, F♯ and A.

Piano: F♯ (black), A (white) and C♯ (black). F♯ is the lowest of the group of three black keys. From the root, 3 semitones up to the third, 4 more to the fifth. Right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1; inverted, A C♯ F♯ and C♯ F♯ A are the same chord.

Where F♯m is too hard to reach in time, A major shares two of its notes (A and C♯) and D shares two (F♯ and A): either stands in, brighter.

Play F♯m

The F♯ minor scale

F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E

Key signature: three sharps, written F♯ C♯ G♯. Whole and half steps: W H W W H W W, the natural minor, with the half steps between G♯ and A and between C♯ and D. Typed without the symbols: F# minor.

Harmonic minor raises the seventh to E♯ (the white key F): the chord on the fifth degree turns major (C♯, C♯7) and pulls back to F♯.

The F♯ harmonic minor scale: F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E♯. Melodic minor, the sixth and seventh raised going up, natural coming down: F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯ E♯.

Play harmonic minor Play melodic minor

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: F♯4 370.0 · G♯4 415.3 · A4 440.0 · B4 493.9 · C♯5 554.4 · D5 587.3 · E5 659.3

Play the scale

F♯ minor scale on piano

Right hand 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3: third finger on F♯, thumb on A and D. Left hand 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 4: thumb on B and on E (E♯ in the harmonic form). The thumb never goes on a black key.

F♯ minor scale on guitar

From the 2nd fret of the low E string: E 2 4 5, A 2 4 5, D 2 4. From the 9th fret of the A string: A 9 11 12, D 9 11 12, G 9 11.

The chords in F sharp minor (F♯m)

Tap a chord to hear it.

The loop plays i–VI–III–VII: F♯m D A E.

The family chords of F♯ minor on guitar, low E to high E: F♯m 244222 · G♯° 4564xx · A x02220 · Bm x24432 · C♯m x46654 (C♯7 x43404) · D xx0232 · E 022100.

F♯ minor chord progressions

• i–VI–III–VII F♯m D A E: the loop above, the minor face of the pop loop.
• i–iv–V F♯m Bm C♯7: with the harmonic minor's major V, the strongest way home.
• i–VII–VI–V F♯m E D C♯: the descending Andalusian cadence of flamenco.
• i–iv–v F♯m Bm C♯m: the natural minor, all three chords minor, darker and softer.
• ii°–V–i G♯m7♭5 C♯7 F♯m: the minor jazz cadence.

Keys that mix with F♯ minor

On the Camelot wheel F♯ minor is 11A (Open Key 4m). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 11B A major relative major, the same seven notes
• 10A B minor one step down
• 12A C♯ minor one step up
• 1A G♯ minor two steps up, the energy boost

A major is the relative major: the same three sharps and the same notes, A as home. F♯ major, the parallel major, keeps F♯ but has six sharps. The other spelling, G♭ minor, would need nine flats on paper, so it's never used.

Pieces and songs in F♯ minor

Haydn's "Farewell" Symphony No. 45 (1772), the Adagio of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), Chopin's Polonaise Op. 44, Brahms's Piano Sonata No. 2 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1. In pop, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" (1982) is in F♯ minor: its bass ostinato is F♯ C♯ E F♯ E C♯ B C♯. Song lists online often file Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" here; the recording is in A major, the relative major, which shares every note.

Questions about F♯ minor

What is F♯ natural minor?

The scale with nothing raised: F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D E, exactly the notes of the key signature.

What key is equivalent to F♯ minor?

A major has the same notes and key signature. On a piano, G♭ minor would sound identical, but nobody writes it.

What is the F♯m7 chord?

F♯, A, C♯ and E: the F♯m chord plus the seventh, the ii of E major and the vi of A major.

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.

Where F♯ minor 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. F♯ is the 2nd fret of a bass's E string, a whole step above the open E (F♯1, 46.2 Hz). 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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