Major chord · F# root
F# chord
- F#1
- A#3
- C#5
The F# major chord (also written Gb, same notes, different spelling) is built from the notes F#, A#, C#. It turns up 2 times in the 80 songs on this site, including Hotel California.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the F# chord?
The F# chord (F# major) is a major chord built from three notes: F#, A#, C# — the 1–3–5 of the F# scale, 4 semitones and 7 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played as a movable shape from fret 2 (2-4-4-3-2-2), so the same fingering works at any fret. It is rated intermediate. The bright, home-base sound that most songs resolve to. It is one of the most-used chords in this site's library: across the 80 song sheets charted here, F# appears 2 times in 1 song, most often in the key of Bm, and the chord it most often moves to is A. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 4 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the F# chord on guitar?
Fret 2 barre — a movable shape, so this same fingering works for every root note.
- Lay your index finger flat across the low E to high E strings at fret 2, rolled slightly onto its bony edge.
- Press the A string at fret 4 with your ring finger.
- Press the D string at fret 4 with your pinky finger.
- Press the G string at fret 3 with your middle finger.
- Strum all six strings and let every one ring.
Drop the lowest fretted note (low E string) and play the rest as a four- or five-string shape. You lose the bass note but keep every note that gives the chord its name, and there is no barre left to fight. x-4-4-3-2-2
How do you make F# sound clean?
The F# barre at the 2nd fret buzzes when the index rolls onto its fleshy side.
F# → B → C#: the I–IV–V of F#, all from the E-shape. Three frets, one shape.
In real songs
What songs use the F# chord?
- chord changes
- 2
- songs
- 1
- common keys
- Bm
Across the 80 chord sheets on this site, F# appears 2 times in 1 song — most often in the key of Bm.
BmF#AE
BmF#AE
Chord flow
What chord comes after F#?
The counts come from our own song library — 1560 chord changes in total — which makes them a snapshot of real songs instead of a rule of thumb.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play F# up the neck?
3 more positions below. Learn one of these well and the rest become optional. The value of a second position is practical: it keeps your fretting hand near where the song is already heading.
Position 2 · Fret 4
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
At fret 4 the neck is still wide enough to keep your thumb behind it, which gives the fingers more reach than a thumb-over grip.
Position 3 · Fret 9 barre
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
It needs 2 separate bars, one of them a partial bar across the inner strings — the hardest part of this shape.
Position 4 · Fret 11 barre
Every note here is fretted, which means the shape transposes anywhere on the neck without changing your fingers.
The barre is the only hard part of this shape. Keep the bar finger straight and use the weight of your arm rather than the grip of your thumb.
The theory behind F#
F# is spelled F# – A# – C# — the 1 – 3 – 5 of the F# scale, which is the root plus 4 semitones, 7 semitones. The bright, home-base sound that most songs resolve to.
The third is the note that makes it major, so it decides the character: keep it on top and F# sounds bright, drop it below the fifth and the same notes sound rounder. On guitar that is a matter of which string you put it on, which is exactly what the different positions on this page do.
What key is the F# chord in?
F# is the I chord in the key of F# major, the IV chord in Db major and the V chord in B major — the three major keys where F# appears naturally.
the home chord — songs resolve here
the subdominant — the chord that leaves home
the dominant — the chord that pulls back home
F# on other instruments
F# – A# – C# — the highlighted black keys are the sharps or flats; play each note once, then move them into one hand position.
Take it to the practice room
