Chords in the Key of F# Minor

Diatonic triads

Seventh chords

Stack one more scale tone on each triad and you get the seventh chords — same key, more color.

Common progressions in F# minor

• i–VI–III–VII

  F#m – D – A – E

  The minor pop loop — same four chords as the major axis, started from the minor side.

• i–iv–v

  F#m – Bm – C#m

  The minor blues shape — all three chords stay minor in the natural scale.

• i–VII–VI

  F#m – E – D

  The descending rock lament, one whole step at a time.

• i–iv–VII–III

  F#m – Bm – E – A

  A circle-of-fifths descent — each root falls a fifth to the next.

How the key of F# minor works

F# Minor carries three sharps (F#, C# and G#). The scale runs F#–G#–A–B–C#–D–E, and stacking every other note of that scale builds the seven chords above — every chord tone comes from those same seven notes.

A Major is the relative major: identical key signature, identical seven chords. Treat A — the III chord here — as home base and you are in A major without changing a note.

The parallel major, F# Major, keeps the same root but raises the third, sixth, and seventh — its signature shifts to six sharps (F#, C#, G#, D#, A# and E#). Moving a section from minor to parallel major is one of the oldest brightness tricks in songwriting.

Playing F# minor on guitar

In F# minor, A, D and E are open chords you can play in first position. F#m, Bm and C#m need a barre shape or a capo. The diminished G#dim is usually played as a small three-string shape rather than a full chord.

A capo is the shortcut. With one, the i–VI–III–VII progression (F#m – D – A – E) sounds in F# minor while you finger open shapes:

• Capo 2 · play it as E minor

  Em – C – G – D

  4 of 4 shapes are open chords.

• Capo 7 · play it as B minor

  Bm – G – D – A

  3 of 4 shapes are open chords.

• Capo 9 · play it as A minor

  Am – F – C – G

  3 of 4 shapes are open chords.

Work out a capo for any song's chords

Where F# minor sits on the neck

The root, F#, is fret 2 on the low E string and fret 9 on the A string, the two places most minor barre shapes and scale positions in F# minor are built from.

Five open strings are in the key: low E, A, D, B and high E. Watch the open G (fret 1 gives G#).

One note separates F# minor from each neighbour on the circle of fifths. Raise D to D# and you are in C# minor; lower G# to G and you are in B minor. Those are the two keys a song in F# minor most often modulates to.

Songs in F# minor

From the song library, these recordings sound in F# minor:

• Wonderwall, Oasis (capo 2)

Keep practicing

• Practice the F# minor scale on the fretboard
• Jam these progressions over a backing track
• Transpose a song into or out of F# minor