The F major scale is an important scale to learn as it will help you understand many important and fundamental concepts of music theory that the C major scale only sheds a little light on.
The key signature of F major has one flat (Bb) and no sharps. It’s parallel minor key is D minor while its parallel minor is F minor.
In classical music, F major has been associated with nature and themes of peaceful joy and exuberance.
Vivaldi based some of his famous work called “The Seasons” in this key while Beethoven named his 6th Symphony in F major the “Pastoral” symphony.
The triads of F major are F major, G minor, A minor, Bb major, C major, D minor, and E diminished.
Table of Contents
Notes In The F Major Scale
The F major scale is made up of the following 7 notes, similar to many other scales:
The notes in the F major scale are: F G A Bb C D E
When you change a few of these notes to others, you can come up with other scales and even change the entire key, for instance:
- If you change Bb to B, then you’ll get the F Lydian scale, which is the fourth mode of C major.
- If you change A to Ab, D to Db, and E to Eb then you’ll get the F minor scale, which is the parallel minor to F major.
In order to play all of these notes on one string, you can either start on the 1st fret of the 6th or 1st strings, or on the 3rd fret of the D string:
If you’ve learned a few other major scales like C major or D major, then you may notice the similarities between this scale and those. Otherwise, this may not be the best scale to learn first.
The formula to the F major scale is just like all the others, and you just need to apply the following whole and half steps to the fretboard:
- F major scale = F (W) G (W) A (H) Bb (W) C (W) D (W) E (H) F
Intervals Of The F Major Scale
Here are all of the intervals of the F major scale:
- Tonic: F
- Major 2nd: G
- Major 3rd: A
- Perfect 4th: Bb
- Perfect 5th: C
- Major 6th: D
- Major 7th: E
- Perfect 8th (Octave): F
You can get all of these intervals by using the formula in the previous section, as each note will correspond to the interval distances you see up above:
Whole, Whole, Whole, Half, Whole, Whole, Whole, Half
“Whole” refers to a whole step equal to a distance of 2 frets, while “Half” refers to a distance of 1 fret.
All of this means that every single fret on your guitar is equal to a half step in distance between the next note and that note!
Using these concepts, the G note is a whole step from F, while A is two whole steps from F. A is four half steps away, and G is two half steps away from F.
An interval in music is a term that describes the distance between any two notes.
Every interval will be named according to its size in distance as well as the tonal quality it gives off. We use names because its easier to refer to a major 3rd than two whole steps or four half steps between two notes.
The tonal qualities we use to describe any interval is major, minor, diminished, augmented, and perfect.
When you start mixing intervals together into chords, melodies, and arrangements involving several tonal instruments this can get quite complex.
There are even more terms to describe some interval exchanges and combinations, which can make music theory daunting and confusing.
The simple idea to remember right now is that an interval is any distance between any two notes, and that we have lots of names to refer to particular distances.
Relative Minor Of The F Major Scale
At the beginning of this article, we mentioned that the relative minor F major is D minor and that its parallel minor scale is F minor.
D minor is the relative minor because it has the same exact notes as F major, but starting on another note (D E F G A Bb C).
This can be demonstrated simply by looking at the circle of fifths.
This concept helps us organize and memorize the major scales and relative minors in a way that’s logical and easy to remember.
Going back to the issue of whether these scales are the same or not…it comes down to a few key differences.
Many melodies in D minor will return to D, while many melodies in F major will return to F major. This is all because of how the notes help reinforce each note as the “tonal center” of the song.
They will naturally rest on these notes because of the series of half steps and whole steps in each scale formula.
Relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same notes but are arranged in a different order.
D minor is considered by many the saddest key of them all.
F major however will bring to mind dreams of spring and joy and such.
The majority of songs written in the F major scale sound happy, upbeat, hopeful, and somewhat cheerful, whereas songs written in the D minor scale sound serious, melancholic, and sad.
F Major Scale Fretboard Positions
All positions of the F major scale can be played across the neck in standard tuning.
Just take a look at the fretboard image below that outlines the notes of the F major scale that we’ve covered so far:
To organize this information into scale patterns, there are three popular systems that guitar players use to remember this info:
- The CAGED Scale System
- 3-Notes-Per-String System
- 7 Position Scale System
Every system has its fans and its naysayers.
The CAGED system helps you see the chord shapes you’re outlining, but it doesn’t give very usable scale patterns.
On the other hand, the opposite is true of the other two systems as they’re great for patterns but not for seeing the chords.
You should think of scale systems as just different ways of playing the notes on a given scale in different patterns.
The CAGED system is my personal favorite as it helps me see the patterns alongside the chord shapes.
It helps immensely when I’m exploring a new key like F major and need to have some pathways to improvising over the chords.
You see, the chord shapes overlap with the scale patterns, and CAGED helps us see that the most clearly!
In order to better see this idea in action, take a look at the image below that has all the chord shapes of F major laid out across the fretboard:
(F major caged image)
CAGED patterns and chord shapes are based on the most popular shapes out there like C major, A major, G major, E major, and D major.
Every shape is moveable across the fretboard and changes character depending on what root note you choose.
Once you master all the information contained in CAGED, you are ready to take on nearly any other scale besides the F major scale.
Plus, you’ll get much quicker at learning solos created by your favorite artists and lead players too.
Position 1: CAGED “E” Shape
Due to the way that the fretboard is laid out in the key of F major, we’re going to start with the “E shape” in the CAGED system.
This shape will be found on the very first fret, so not the open fret, and then repeat at the 13th fret.
(image of e shape)
Some scale patterns will show notes that don’t appear to have the root note as the starting note. This is okay as we’re only trying to see all the scale tones along with the chord tones too.
However, always remember to play from the lowest root note, on the 1st fret of the low E string, to the highest one, which is on the high E string or 1st string.
Once you get to the highest root note, you’ll simply go back the way you came up. If the lowest note is not the root note, you can still go to that note instead.
The tablature form of this pattern will help clear up any confusion:
You may be new to playing scales so focus on accuracy instead of speed, for now.
Once you’ve built some muscle memory and feel more comfortable, then you can speed up and use a metronome.
Position 2: CAGED “D” Shape
The next position will have the F chord laid out similar to the “D chord shape.”
To find the root note, all you need to do is find the F note on the D string. You’ll then see the XXX565 figure, which is the same as the XXX232 D chord shape.
(image of D shape fret image)
All of the same ideas are at work here too. The scale pattern is closely following the D chord shape and all you need to do is play the notes as shown.
The tablature would go as follows:
Repeat the same process as before where you start on the lowest root note and ascend to the highest note you can play.
This will be either the 5th or 6th fret on the 1st string, which will depend on your finger dexterity.
After you reach the high note, you’ll follow the scale right back down to where you started, as before. This note will be the 3rd fret of the low E string.
Position 3: CAGED “C” Shape
And now we’re at the C shape position of the F major scale, which is located around the 8th fret.
The root notes are located at the 8th fret of the A string and the 6th fret of the B string.
(image of c shape)
If you’re not sure why we’re just now getting to the C shape, then I’m about to tell you.
Because of the location of the F notes all around the fretboard, the order of the CAGED shapes is going to be different. The E shape starts on the 1st fret, and doesn’t get to the C shape until the point we’re at now, the 8th fret.
Scale patterns have a different order too as they go by which one has the lowest root note. So position 1 will be the position starting where the E shape does, at the 1st fret.
Here’s the same position in tab form:
This shape is great because it fits very nicely in your fret hand. You’ll use your pinky for all the notes on the 8th fret, while the index finger will be used on the notes that are found on the 5th fret.
For this same reason, we recommend this as the first for all the beginners out there.
Position 4: CAGED “A” Shape
Like other A shape patterns, this one is fairly challenging because of the wide span of notes. Since this shape occurs at a higher fret, this should be easier than playing the actual A chord pattern at the open position.
The series of whole steps in the pattern below may still be problematic:
(image of A shape fret image)
Nearly every player plays this shape a little bit differently.
Some will ignore the bottom most note on the low E string. Others will change finger positions slightly as they go up and down the pattern.
Like the other patterns, you can simply start on the lowest root note and go from there. As always, remember to play it slowly at first for accuracy before attempting to speed it up.
The tab will have you play this pattern like this:
Another important note with big stretches like these is to focus on correctly lifting one finger off the board before pressing another.
Many beginners will want to keep their first finger in place on the fret instead of lifting slightly to let the other fingers reach the higher frets. There’s some nuance to this, but it will actually help you fret hand once you figure this out.
Position 5: CAGED “G” Shape
Here is very last position in the CAGED system: the G chord shape.
This is another shape that has three root notes in it, along with the E shape:
(image of G shape fret image)
When you’re first improvising, the root note is going to be the main tone that you’ll focus on. Having this pattern down will work well when you’re in many situations where the root note will be all you need.
The abundance of root notes will allow you to do less thinking and help you build on the patterns you’ve already learned.
Here it is in tablature form:
Chords In The F Major Scale
This section will cover the 7 diatonic chords that will appear from using the F major scale.
Using the 7 notes of the scale (F G A Bb C D E), you can get a group of several chords that can be created from these notes and thus work nicely together.
These chords from the F major scale will include:
- I – F major (F)
- ii – G minor (Gm)
- iii – A minor (Am)
- IV – Bb major (Bb)
- V – C major (C)
- D minor (Dm)
- E diminished (Edim)
All of these chords except the diminished are used nearly all the time in popular music.
It may be hard to see how these chords are all related to the F major scale, which is a problem that many other writers and guitar sites have failed to address.
Take a look at the table below summarizing the chords in the F major scale and their notes:
| Chord | F | Gm | Am | Bb | C | Dm | Edim |
| Notes | F-A-C | G-Bb-D | A-C-E | Bb-D-F | C-E-G | D-F-A | E-G-Bb |
These notes are not random, they are triads, meaning a given note in the scale with its third and fifth above it.
For example, to make the F major chord out of these notes, we would take F, skip one note, take the A, skip another note, and then take C.
F-A-C are the three notes that form the triad and thus the F major chord (F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E).
For the second, third, and all the other chords, you’ll need to take the respective root note and find its third and fifth.
- F major chord (F – A – C): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
- G minor chord (G – Bb – D): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
- A minor chord (A – C – E): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
- Bb major chord (Bb – D – F): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
- C major chord (C – E – G): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
- D minor chord (D – F – A): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
- E diminished chord (E – G – Bb): F – G – A – Bb – C – D – E
This may be a lot of information to take in if you’re new to this so take your time and reread this if necessary.
All we’re saying is that every chord in F major that we’re about to discuss has been created using the 7 notes in the F major scale.
Let’s take a look at them all right now….
F Major Chord
Here’s the most prominent F major chord shapes up and down the neck:
The first chord should be instantly recognizable as it’s the barre chord shape that’s used so often in guitar music.
Here’s a piece of tablature showing how to play all of these chords if you’re more comfortable with this instead:
Keep in mind that these shapes are not random. They came from the scale formula we’ve covered in some way throughout this article.
Check the last section’s CAGED patterns and you’ll see how they overlap with these shapes.
Not everyone is going to get this immediately, which is why I’m pointing this out now. The moment you see where chords and scales overlap, the closer you’ll get to unlocking a big mystery of the fretboard.
G Minor Chord
Let’s finally cover some other chords besides those revolving around F major.
These are the chord shapes of F major’s ii chord, which is Gm:
(chord diagrams of Gm)
As per usual, here is the tab to these shapes too:
You may recognize the simple minor chord shape at the 3rd fret. However don’t neglect the other shapes as they’re key to helping you see more places you can play not just this chord but many other minor chords.
The more practice you make finding and using these chord shapes, the more freedom you’ll have over the fretboard to move around with ease.
If you’re looking for more to do than just play barre chords, then this is your chance to do so.
Am Minor Chord
These chord shapes are exactly the same as what you saw in the previous section.
The only difference is that they’re all played with the root note of A instead of G:
(chord shapes of Am)
Once again here’s the tab for any of you who need it:
Hopefully you’re starting to see that learning shapes and patterns first will help you go a long way with learning the fretboard.
Now that you see how often some shapes reoccur on the fretboard, maybe you will see how it’s useless to try and apply various numbers of half and whole steps to make intervals and scales.
Bb Major Chord
Here is the first major chord in F major besides the I chord.
You should also be able to recognize several of these shapes by now:
(chord diagrams Bb major)
You may not use the G or C shapes as much as the A or E shapes, but they can be quite useful when you reach a more advanced level of guitar playing.
Check out the tab below to see these shapes applied to Bb:
In fact, if you’re a beginner, it may be a better idea to just stick to the A and E shapes instead.
These will fit much easier in your fretting hand and won’t be as hard to change between other chords.
C Major Chord
The last major chord in F major is the V chord of C major.
You’ll find that some of these shapes are very familiar as well:
The C chord is one you’ve probably, hopefully, learned already before attempting to integrate a lot of this info:
We’re serious in how often these shapes repeat themselves on the guitar.
You’ve seen these shapes used already to make the sound of F major and Bb major. You’ll keep seeing them when you explore other key signatures too.
D Minor Chord
Here we are now at the vi chord shapes of Dm:
If you’ve seen the movie Spinal Tap, you may remember the scene where Nigel plays the piano and talks of how the key of Dm, the relative minor of F major, is the saddest of all keys.
Well these shapes are the starting point of creating that similar sound of “Lick My Love Pump.”
And now that you’ve learned the CAGED patterns and seen many of the other shapes that will work with Dm, you’re free to write your own tribute or ripoff of his song.
Here’s the tab for anyone who wants it:
E Diminished Chord
Let’s discuss the last chord of F major, and the least used in all major keys, the diminished chord at vii:
(chord diagrams of Edim)
These shapes are not easy to play as it requires you to use your pinky at some points, as well as barre the frets with your 2nd finger instead of your 1st.
The diminished shape is also not as easy to throw into a chord progression as the 6 other chords are.
However we still feel that you should learn a few of these shapes and take a gander at playing them.
These are the tabbed out forms of Edim:
Always be sure to pay attention to what strings to leave out and deaden. Not doing this may cause you to play notes that don’t belong to the chord.
Guitar Exercises In The F Major Scale
The best way to remember all of this information is to start using it as soon as possible. It does no good to have an intellectual understanding of these chords if you never make music with them.
The first few exercises will have you playing these chord shapes together while the others will help you see how to start creating your own licks with these patterns.
These are not so much to test your technique as much as to build your musical fluency and knowledge of the fretboard.
Exercise 1
All we’re going to do for the first exercise is play one shape of each chord in a sequence.
The great thing about this exercise is that it brings a lot of the principles together that you’ve been seeing throughout this article with intervals, chord shapes, scale patterns, etc:
After playing this a few times, try and come up with a chord progression of your own. Take a few of these shapes, or throw in some of the other ones we just went through in the previous sections.
Feel free to alter the amount of bars you’re playing through as well as the amount of chords you’ll be using.
We’re not necessarily encouraging you to start songwriting, but to keep yourself the freedom to create and use these principles in action.
Exercise 2
Exercise 2 is going to use one of the most popular chord progressions of all time in order to learn more about the F major scale.
The I-vi-IV-V progression in F major will translate to the chords F-Dm-Bb-C:
This chord progression is what I refer to as the 50s/60s dance progression as so many songs use this harmony.
And you’ve just seen how it works in this key which we’ve now been exploring for awhile!
Exercise 3
This lick is based on the E CAGED shape scale pattern. We’ve thrown in a few flourishes here and there to make it less like an exercise and more like a piece of music:
Lead guitar playing is all about taking these chord tones and shapes as well as scale patterns to apply rhythms to and make melodies with.
It’s not necessary to really play this accurately but do try and get a feel for this lick.
Too often we ignore everything else that involves making music and we just see it as a series of chord diagrams and scale patterns instead.
We hope this exercise and the next one will help you see how to avoid that common trap that many guitar players fall into.
Exercise 4
This next exercise uses notes from the C shape and the A shape of the CAGED system, and can come off as kind of quirky.
The goal of this exercise is again not to challenge your technical abilities, but to help improve your fretboard knowledge:
Like many of these exercises, it’s meant not only to increase your fretboard fluency but also to improve your accuracy.
So learn this lick with that goal in mind instead of a possible springboard for fast shred licks.
Accuracy alone and strong pick hand technique will do the most to help you come off as a more seasoned player instead of just speed.
If you’d like a backing track to help you come up with your own licks in F major, then I highly recommend you start with this one I found on YouTube:
Chord Progressions In The F Major Scale
Now let’s finally get into the business of creating music using all of this seemingly random knowledge.
Chord progressions are the backbone and skeleton of every song and song part that you’re going to come across.
So it will benefit you tremendously to finish this article and see some of the typical chord progressions you can make using all the information we’ve unveiled here about F Major.
F – Bb – C
This progression can be translated into the ever popular and ubiquitous I-IV-V progression.
Although the Bb is not a beginner friendly chord when played in open position, you’ll see that it’s one of our popular barre chord shapes and so you should get this down quickly.
These are the famous “three chords” everyone suggests is the sole piece of music knowledge to write a hit song.
It’s true that many extremely popular songs use this harmony, but more than likely you’re sick of this combination of chords as well.
However, it’s important to know as there are still many ways you can vary and improve this common chord progression with some work.
F – C – Dm – Bb
This is a very nice and pretty chord progression to include in your repertoire.
It can be translated into a I – V – vi – IV in F major, and when you choose the right chords it can sound nice like this:
No matter what order you play these chord shapes in, they will more than likely sound quite good!
Just take a look at these other ways to play the chords up above:
- F – C – Bb – Dm
- F – Dm – Bb – C
- F – Dm – C – Bb
- F – Bb – Dm – C
- F – Bb – C – Dm
You can also try playing in other positions with some of the other chord shapes you’ve seen in order to get a fresh take on this harmony, or any harmony we’ve covered.
F – Bb – Dm – Am
This chord progression differs from the others by just one chord that we haven’t used yet: the iii chord.
So it’s quite similar to the last chord progression we played but the new chord gives some freshness to it overall:
Try the idea we had in the previous section here with this progression. Vary up the chords and see if you can use other shapes too.
Most of the chords in this key fall nicely into open position so it shouldn’t be too hard to come up with a few things you’ll like.
A few songs that were written in the key of F major that you can find inspiration for include:
- “The Scientist” by Coldplay
- “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Crue
- “Thunder Road” by Bruce Springsteen
- “Life Is A Highway” by Tom Cochrane
- “Your Body Is A Wonderland” by John Mayer
- “Debaser” by The Pixies
- “Sussudio” by Phil Collins
- “Glycerine” by Bush
Loves studying classical piano, youtube video tabs, and music theory textbooks to get insights into guitar playing that no one else has uncovered yet. In his spare time, he can be found relaxing at the beach in San Diego, or adventuring somewhere around the world.
