ChordWheel › Keys › F major
Chords in the key of F major
F major has 1 flat (B♭). Its seven chords are F, Gm, Am, B♭, C, Dm, E° . Its relative minor is D minor , which uses the same chords with Dm as home.
C major A minor C Am V iii G major E minor G Em D major B minor D Bm A major F♯ minor A F♯m E major C♯ minor E C♯m B major G♯ minor B G♯m F♯ major D♯ minor F♯ D♯m D♭ major B♭ minor D♭ B♭m A♭ major F minor A♭ Fm E♭ major C minor E♭ Cm B♭ major G minor B♭ Gm IV ii F major D minor F Dm I vi F 5 3 4 2 1 6 On the wheel, IV, I and V sit side by side on the outer ring with ii, vi and iii right below them. Tap any key on the wheel to go to its page.
Open F major in the interactive wheel
The seven chords
Number Chord 7th chord I F Fmaj7 ii Gm Gm7 iii Am Am7 IV B♭ B♭maj7 V C C7 vi Dm Dm7 vii° E° Em7♭5
I
root on 6th string
8fr × root on 5th string
F · A · C ii
3fr root on 6th string
10fr × root on 5th string
G · B♭ · D iii
× open
5fr root on 6th string
A · C · E IV
6fr root on 6th string
× root on 5th string
B♭ · D · F V
× open
8fr root on 6th string
C · E · G vi
× × open
10fr root on 6th string
D · F · A 7th chords
Common progressions in F major
F C Dm B♭ I V vi IV The pop engine (Let It Be, Someone Like You) F Dm B♭ C I vi IV V 50s / doo-wop (Stand By Me) Dm B♭ F C vi IV I V The same four from the minor side (Zombie, Africa-style) F B♭ C I IV V Three-chord rock, blues and country Gm C F ii V I The jazz cadence F E♭ B♭ F I ♭VII IV I Rock's borrowed cadence (Hey Jude coda, Sweet Child O' Mine) F B♭ B♭m F I IV iv I The bittersweet ending (Creep)
Borrowed from the minor Chords from F minor dropped into F major. Rock lives on ♭VII; IV then iv then I is the bittersweet move (Creep).
Secondary dominants A 7th chord that leads into another chord of the key as if it were home for a moment. Its root is one step clockwise of its target on the wheel.
Colour chords The same slot on the wheel with a different flavour. Sus chords swap the 3rd for the 2nd or 4th and like to resolve back to the plain chord (Fsus4 → F). add9 adds the 2nd on top of the full chord. These are the common ones whose notes all stay in the key (here: Fsus2, Fsus4, Fadd9); the small label is the slot they sit in.
The F major scale
F major: F G A B♭ C D E . The key's seven chords are built from these notes; the borrowed and secondary chords above bring in notes from outside it.
Related keys
B♭ major : one step counterclockwise; E becomes E♭. A smooth key change.C major : one step clockwise; B♭ becomes B. A smooth key change.D minor : the relative minor, same notes.F minor : the parallel minor, same home note, where the borrowed chords come from.
Questions What chords are in the key of F major? The seven chords in F major are F, Gm, Am, Bb, C, Dm, E°. As 7th chords: Fmaj7, Gm7, Am7, Bbmaj7, C7, Dm7, Em7b5.
How many sharps or flats does F major have? F major has 1 flat (Bb).
What is the relative minor of F major? D minor. It uses exactly the same notes and chords; only the home chord changes.
What are common chord progressions in F major? I V vi IV: F C Dm Bb; I vi IV V: F Dm Bb C; vi IV I V: Dm Bb F C.