Julie Swihart

Major Key Chords

Let’s look at how to find chords for the key of F sharp major. You can use these chords to create chord progressions and play creatively in the key of F sharp.

How to Find Chords for F Sharp

To find the chords for F sharp major, we’ll first need to build an F sharp major scale (learn how to build a major scale here).

Here’s an F sharp major scale:

F♯ – G♯ – A♯ – B – C♯ – D♯ – E♯ – F♯

Now we’ll build a “1 – 3 – 5” chord off each note of this scale, using only the notes of the scale to build the chord.

So starting on F♯, we’ll count “1 – 3 – 5” to build our first chord. When we do, we get: F♯ – A♯ – C♯

Then we’ll build another “1 – 3 – 5” chord starting on G♯, and using only the notes of the scale: G♯ – B – D♯

Next, we’ll start on A♯ and build another “1 – 3 – 5” chord, using only the notes of the scale: A♯ – C♯ – E♯

We can continue this pattern, building a chord off each note the major scale, using only the notes of the scale to build the chords.

Chords for Major Keys Printable

This 20-page PDF will help you learn the chords for every major key! Use these chords to build chord progressions and play creatively.

Get the Printable

Chords for the Key of F Sharp Major

Here are the chords for the key of F sharp:

F♯ – A♯ – C♯ = F♯ major chord

G♯ – B – D♯ = G♯ minor chord

A♯ – C♯ – E♯ = A♯ minor chord

B – D♯ – F♯ = B major chord

C♯ – E♯ – G♯ = C♯ major chord

D♯ – F♯ – A♯ = D♯ minor chord

E♯ – G♯ – B = E♯ diminished chord

Other Major Key Chords

You can find chords for the other major keys below:

C Major Chords
G Major Chords
D Major Chords
A Major Chords
E Major Chords
B Major Chords
C Sharp Major Chords
F Major Chords
B Flat Major Chords
E Flat Major Chords
A Flat Major Chords
D Flat Major Chords
G Flat Major Chords
C Flat Major Chords

Enharmonic Keys

Some keys are considered “enharmonic”. This means they use the same notes on the piano, but go by two different names.

The key of F sharp major is enharmonic with G flat major, because these two keys use the same notes on the piano, but are labeled differently.

There are six total enharmonic keys:

B major and C flat major
F sharp major and G flat major
C sharp major and D flat major

To understand these relationships better, take a look at the circle of fifths.

How to Label the Chords

There are four different types of “1 – 3 – 5” chords:

Major
Minor
Augmented
Diminished

The difference between these chords depends on the piano intervals used to build them (learn all about piano intervals here).

But to summarize:

Major chords are built using the first, third and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

Minor chords are major chords with the middle note lowered 1/2 step.

Augmented chords are major chords with the upper-note raised 1/2 step.

Diminished chords are minor chords with the upper-note lowered 1/2 step.

When we build a chord off each note of the major scale, using only the notes of the scale to build the chords, we’ll always get these chord types in this order:

Major
Minor
Minor
Major
Major
Minor
Diminished

You can use this pattern to find the chords for any major key!

Primary Chords for the Key of F Sharp Major

Every major key has three “primary” chords. We can find the primary chords for a major key by building a chord off the first, fourth and fifth notes of the matching major scale.

The primary chords for the key of F sharp are:

F♯ major
B major
C♯ major

We’ll use these chords often when playing in the key of F sharp.

Conclusion

Now you know how to find chords for the key of F sharp major, and you can use that pattern to find the chords for any major key.

Seeing the patterns on the piano and using them to identify and build chords is a wonderful way to learn the piano!