What notes are in an F♯ major chord?

F♯ major contains three notes: F♯ (the root), A♯ (the major third), and C♯ (the perfect fifth).

Is F♯ major the same as G♭ major?

Yes, enharmonically — same three pitches. F♯ major has six sharps; G♭ major has six flats. They're equally valid; composers pick one based on surrounding harmony.

How do you play F♯ major on guitar?

Most commonly an E-shape barre at the 2nd fret: index finger across all six strings on the 2nd fret, ring and pinky on the 4th fret of strings 5 and 4, middle finger on the 3rd fret of string 3.

What's the relative minor of F♯ major?

D♯ minor — it shares F♯ major's six-sharp key signature and is built on the 6th degree of the F♯ major scale.

F# major chord — notes, intervals, and practice

F♯ major has six sharps (every note except B carries a sharp) and is enharmonic to G♭ major (six flats). The chord contains F♯, A♯, and C♯. Which spelling appears in a score depends on context — sharp-side modulations land on F♯, flat-side land on G♭. The key is famous for its "shimmer" in piano writing; Debussy's "Reflets dans l'eau" uses F♯ extensively, and Bach gave it a prelude and fugue in both books of the Well-Tempered Clavier.

Intervals

The F# major chord stacks two thirds on the root. Each interval and its size in semitones:

F#→A#major 3rd4 semitones
A#→C#minor 3rd3 semitones
F#→C#perfect 5th7 semitones

On the keyboard

Each note of the F# major chord highlighted on a piano. Pitch class is what matters — any octave works.

On the guitar

One voicing of the F# major chord on a six-string guitar fretboard.

Common mistakes

Three sharps live inside the chord itself: F♯, A♯, and C♯. Reading any of them as a natural produces a different chord — F-A-C is F major; F♯-A-C♯ is F♯ minor; F♯-A♯-C is an unusual altered voicing. On guitar, F♯ major is a 2nd-fret E-shape barre or a 9th-fret D-shape; both require reliable barre technique. The key signature is dense enough that hand-writing the sharps as a reminder before sight-reading is a normal precaution.

In context

F♯ major is the I chord in F♯ major (with V = C♯, IV = B), the IV chord in C♯ major, the V chord in B major, and a common bII in F minor (Neapolitan). Late-Romantic harmony often modulates between F♯ major and its enharmonic G♭ major mid-piece; Wagner's Tristan und Isolde uses both notations across its sprawling chromatic structure.

Drill it

The F# major chord is one of 48 in the Chord Trainer. Open the full trainer to practice it alongside related chords with timing and best-time tracking.

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Frequently asked

What notes are in an F♯ major chord?: F♯ major contains three notes: F♯ (the root), A♯ (the major third), and C♯ (the perfect fifth).
Is F♯ major the same as G♭ major?: Yes, enharmonically — same three pitches. F♯ major has six sharps; G♭ major has six flats. They're equally valid; composers pick one based on surrounding harmony.
How do you play F♯ major on guitar?: Most commonly an E-shape barre at the 2nd fret: index finger across all six strings on the 2nd fret, ring and pinky on the 4th fret of strings 5 and 4, middle finger on the 3rd fret of string 3.
What's the relative minor of F♯ major?: D♯ minor — it shares F♯ major's six-sharp key signature and is built on the 6th degree of the F♯ major scale.