F#7 piano chord, F# dominant 7th notes and fingering.

The F#7 piano chord is F# dominant 7th: F#, A#, C# and E. It is the F# major triad (F#, A#, C#) with a minor seventh (E) added on top, ten semitones above the root. A plain 7 in a chord name, as in F#7, always means this flat seventh, not the major seventh.

How to play F#7 on piano

1. Find F# on the keyboard. F# is the first black key of the group of three, between F and G. It is the same key as Gb.
2. With your right hand, put finger 1 on F#, finger 2 on A#, finger 3 on C# and finger 5 on E. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press all four keys together. In root position they run from F#4 to E5, a reach of 10 semitones. Play chord sounds them together and Arpeggio sounds them one by one, from the bottom up.
4. Click Left hand to see the left hand. It plays F#3 to E4, one octave lower: F# with finger 5, A# with finger 3, C# with finger 2, E with finger 1.
5. The cards under the keyboard hold the four positions, with F#, A#, C# and E at the bottom in turn. Play and Arpeggio on a card play that position.
6. Open Note names. As written the keys read F#, A#, C# and E. Sharps shows F#, A#, C# and E, and Flats shows Gb, Bb, Db and E. This chord is written with sharps, so As written and Sharps match.

How F#7 is built

Counted from the root, the formula is 0, 4, 7, 10. Stacked on each other the gaps are 4 + 3 + 3: a major third, a minor third and another minor third. The third (A#) and the seventh (E) are 6 semitones apart, which is a tritone, the most tense interval in the chord. That pair is what makes the chord lean toward a resolution.

Worked example: the pitch of F#4. On a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz, a note 3 semitones below A4 has the frequency 440 × 2^(-3/12), which is about 369.99 Hz. A#4 is 1 semitones above A4, so 440 × 2^(1/12) gives about 466.16 Hz.

F#7 and Gb7 are the same chord on the keyboard: the same four keys sound for both. Written as Gb7 it reads Gb, Bb, Db and Fb. The key of F# major has 6 sharps and the key of Gb major has 6 flats.

What the keys look like under your hand

The white keys beside F# are F on the left and G on the right, a semitone each way. Three of the four notes are black keys (F#, A# and C#) and one is a white key (E). Your thumb lands on F#, a black key with F and G beside it. Keep the thumb relaxed and slightly curved, and let the wrist stay level instead of twisting to reach. Finger 2 presses A#, a black key between A and B. The middle fingers are the longest, so they reach black keys most easily. Finger 3 presses C#, a black key between C and D. The middle fingers are the longest, so they reach black keys most easily.

F#7 inversions and fingering

F#7 has four positions. In root position F# is at the bottom. In the first inversion, A# is at the bottom and the chord is written F#7/A#. In the second inversion, C# is at the bottom and the chord is written F#7/C#. In the third inversion, E is at the bottom and the chord is written F#7/E. The tightest reach, 8 semitones from the lowest key to the highest, is the first inversion. The widest, at 10, is the root position.

The keys that hold F#7

F#7 fits two of the major and natural minor keys that have a standard key signature, which means every note of it comes from that key's scale. The simplest is B major, with 5 sharps, where it is chord V7.

Progressions that use F#7, with the chord numbers and the chords in that key:

• B major: Imaj7-IVmaj7-V7-Imaj7, which is Bmaj7, Emaj7, F#7, Bmaj7, the three-chord cadence of folk, rock and blues.
• G# minor: i7-VII7-VImaj7-VII7, which is G#m7, F#7, Emaj7, F#7, a rocking figure between VII and VI.
• B major: vi7-IVmaj7-Imaj7-V7, which is G#m7, Emaj7, Bmaj7, F#7, the four-chord loop started from the vi chord.

Blues: a 12-bar blues in F# is built on F#7, B7 and C#7.

Here is a worked example in B major. The chord before F#7 in the first progression above is Emaj7 (E, G#, B and D#). From Emaj7 in root position, the closest way to reach F#7 is its third inversion (E, F#, A# and C#, lowest note first): one note stays where it is, and the others move 5 semitones in total, counting each note against the note in the same place from the bottom.

Look at the top three notes of F#7: A#, C# and E make a A# diminished chord (A#, C# and E). A dominant 7th is a diminished triad with the root added underneath.

What F#7 sounds like

The dominant 7th is restless. Its tritone between A# and E pulls toward a resolution, and the chord most naturally moves to B, a fifth below F#. It is the sound of the blues too, where every chord can be a dominant 7th.

Here F#7 is the V7 chord in B major and the VII7 chord in G# minor. In a 12-bar blues in F# the three chords are F#7, B7 and C#7. In minor keys the same chord appears as V7 of B minor, using the raised seventh of the harmonic minor scale.

A common mistake with F#7

A common mistake is pressing E# instead of E on top, one semitone higher than the seventh of F#7. That gives F#maj7 (F#, A#, C# and E#), which sounds soft where F#7 sounds restless. Check the top note: it should be the lower of the two keys.

Chords to learn next

Chords close to F#7: F# major (the same chord without the seventh; shares F#, A# and C#); F#maj7 (a major seventh instead; shares F#, A# and C#); F#m7 (a minor third instead; shares F#, C# and E); B major (the chord it leads to; shares F#).

Once F#7 feels easy, play it and then B major to hear the chord resolve. For chords beyond these six types, and for guitar and ukulele shapes, use the chord finder. To play along with your computer keys, open the virtual piano. The piano chords page lists all 72 chords.