F# Chord on the Guitar (F Sharp Major) - 10 Ways to Play (and Some Tips/Theory)

The F# chord (F sharp Major) is most commonly played on the 2nd fret of the guitar, as a root 6 bar chord. None of the notes in the F# chord can be played on open strings, so there is no way to play F# as an open chord.

The F# chord is enharmonically the same as Gb Major.

Some Quick F# Chord Theory

The F# Major chord contains the notes F#, A# and C#.
The F# Major chord is produced by playing the 1st (root), 3rd and 5th notes of the F# Major scale.
The F sharp Major chord (just like all Major chords) contains the following intervals (from the root note): Major 3rd, minor 3rd, Perfect 4th (back to the root note).
The F# chord is the first chord in the key of F sharp Major. The seven chords in the key of F sharp Major are: F#, G#m, A#m, B, C#, D#m, E# diminished.

10 Ways To Play The F# Major Chord

If you’ve come to this page just to view some chord diagrams for F#, here they are.

Standard F# Chord Shape

The most common way to play the F# chord is the root-6 barre chord, starting on the second fret.

Easy F# Chord Shape

While the root-6 barre chord shape is the most common way of playing the chord, it can be useful to learn the easier version of the chord, especially when starting out. The Easy F# shape involves playing three strings, using the first three fingers.

How to Play the F Sharp Major Chord (Step by Step)

Place your first finger on the second fret and barre all six strings.
Place your third finger on the fourth fret of the fifth string.
Place your fourth finger on the fourth fret of the fourth string.
Place your second finger on the third fret of the third string.
Strum all six strings.

The instructions above are step by step instructions for playing the most common F# Major chord shape. These instructions can actually be super helpful when you feel like you’re interpreting the shape incorrectly. By going through the F# chord instructions step by step, you can verify that you’re playing the chord correctly.

Barre Chord Shapes for F Sharp

The F# chord can be played as a barre chord by playing a root 6 barre chord shape and starting on the 2nd fret or by playing a root 5 barre chord Major shape and starting on the 9th fret:

F# Major Triads

Playing the F# chord using barre chord shapes is the most common way of playing the chord. However, it is also useful to explore the chord using triads (including inversions). The F sharp Major triad can be voiced in the following three ways:

F# Major Triad (Root Position) – F#, A#, C#
F# Major Triad (1st Inversion) – A#, C#, F#
F# Major Triad (2nd Inversion) – C#, F#, A#

Here are six different ways to play the F# Major triad (including inversions).

Which Keys Have The F# chord in Them?

The Gb chord can be found in the following keys:

The key of F# Major (F#, G#m, A#m, B, C#, D#m, E#dim)
The key of C# Major (C#, D#m, E#m, F#, G#, A#m, B#dim)
The key of B Major (B, C#m, D#m, E, F#, G#m, A#dim)
The key of D# minor (D#m, E#dim, F#, G#m, A#m, B, C#)
The key of A# minor (A#m, B#dim, C#, D#m, E#m, F#, G#)
The key of G# minor (G#m, A#dim, B, C#m, D#m, E, F#)

Alternative But Useful F Sharp Chord Shapes

The following shapes are alternative ways of playing the F sharp Major chord shape. They’re not the most common F# shapes, but used enough to include here as interesting alternatives.

F# Chord Substitutions

The F# chord can often be substituted with the F# sus 4 chord, the F# sus 2 chord and the F# add 9 chord. The F# chord can also be used itself as a substitute for more complicated chords, such as the F# Major 7 chord, the F#7 chord, and other extension chords which have F# as the root note (it can’t be used in place of minor chords though!).

Which Scales Can Be Played Over the F# chord?

The most common and effective scales that can be used to solo/improvise over the F# Major chord, or to create melodies for the purposes of song writing are:

F# Major pentatonic scale – This scale will almost always work over the F# Major chord, in any context.
F# Major scale – This is the ‘default scale’ of the F# chord.
F# Lydian mode – This scale can be used over the F# chord in certain contexts to add a jazz flavour.
F# Major Blues – This scale is particularly useful in a Blues context.

F# Chord on the Guitar (F Sharp Major) – 10 Ways to Play (and Some Tips/Theory)