Sevenths
F♯ dominant 7th chord
Bluesy tension that pulls strongly toward the chord a 5th below.
F♯7 is the V7 chord in B major. In minor keys: V7 in B minor.
- Notes
- F♯A♯C♯E
- Formula
- 135♭7
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play F♯7
About the F♯ dominant 7th chord
F♯7 is the V7 of B, and a common secondary dominant (leading into Bm) in songs in D and G.
Playing it
On guitar, F♯7 has an open-position shape, 242320, using three fingers alongside the open strings.
On piano, F♯7 has three black keys (F♯, A♯ and C♯) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual F♯7 shape is 3424, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form A♯dim (A♯ C♯ E) — so you can think of F♯7 as A♯dim with F♯ added underneath.
Move a single note and F♯7 becomes a different chord: drop the E for F♯, raise E to E♯ for F♯maj7, lower A♯ to A for F♯m7 and lower E to D♯ for F♯6.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find F♯7 in common progressions such as F♯7–B7–C♯7 (the 12-bar blues in F♯ major) and C♯m7–F♯7–Bmaj7 (the jazz cadence in B major).
