Skip to content
Tomus

Key reference

The key of F major

1 flat · F – G – A – B♭ – C – D – E

F major has 1 flat: B♭. A piece in this key draws on F, G, A, B♭, C, D, E and treats F as home.

The seven chords below are the ones built from those notes alone, which is why they sound like they belong together.

The key signature

𝄞♭
The key signature of F major: B.

Order of flats

  1. B♭
  2. E♭
  3. A♭
  4. D♭
  5. G♭
  6. C♭
  7. F♭

This signature uses the first 1 of them: B♭.

The notes of the key

These are the notes of the major scale on this tonic. See the F major scale for the degrees and step pattern.

F – G – A – B♭ – C – D – E

The seven diatonic chords

Build a triad on each degree using only notes from the key and the qualities fall into a fixed pattern. That pattern is the same in every major key, which is why progressions transpose so cleanly.

DegreeRomanChordNotesFunction
1IFF – A – CTonic
2iiGmG – B♭ – DPredominant
3iiiAmA – C – ETonic
4IVB♭B♭ – D – FPredominant
5VCC – E – GDominant
6viDmD – F – ATonic
7vii°EdimE – G – B♭Dominant

Adding sevenths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of the key.

RomanChordNotes
IFmaj7F – A – C – E
iiGm7G – B♭ – D – F
iiiAm7A – C – E – G
IVB♭maj7B♭ – D – F – A
V7C7C – E – G – B♭
viDm7D – F – A – C
vii°Em7♭5E – G – B♭ – D

Common progressions in F major

These are the same shapes you meet in every major key, written with this key’s chords.

I – V – vi – IV

  1. FITonic
  2. CVDominant
  3. DmviTonic
  4. B♭IVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

  1. FITonic
  2. DmviTonic
  3. B♭IVPredominant
  4. CVDominant

ii – V – I

  1. GmiiPredominant
  2. CVDominant
  3. FITonic

Related keys

RelationshipKeySignature
Relative minorD minorSame signature
Parallel minorF minor4 flats
One step sharpwardsC majorOne more sharp
One step flatwardsB♭ majorOne more flat
Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.

Related

All major keys