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The F#m7 chord

Built from F# - A - C# - E, the F#m7 is a minor seventh that sounds the neo-soul minor. It lives at the centre of modern R&B and cocktail jazz, and it earns its place in the progression. What follows below: the voicings worth memorising on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, progressions in two or three different keys, and a short list of real records that lean on the chord.

Hear the F#m7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for F#m7

Common ways to grip the F#m7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for F#m7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Em7 shape at fr.2

Notes: F# - A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: Am7 shape at fr.9

Notes: F# - A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: Dm7 shape at fr.4

Notes: F# - A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: top-4 voicing

Notes: F# - A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar: high top-4 voicing

Notes: F# - A - C# - E (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · open

Notes: top-string triad, open

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.5

Notes: top-string triad, fr.5

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.9

Notes: top-string triad, fr.9

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.2

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.2

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.5

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.5

Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.9

Notes: middle-string triad, fr.9

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.2

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.2

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.6

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.6

Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.9

Notes: bass-side triad, fr.9

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: F# - A - C# - E. Root F# at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: A - C# - E - F#. A at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: C# - E - F# - A. C# at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: E - F# - A - C#. E at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind F#m7

F#m7 is a minor seventh built on F#. Its three or four notes (F# - A - C# - E) sit a specific distance apart: root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. That makes it a passing chord in the key of a closely related major key, and the same chord works as the passing chord in a closely related major key. The simplest rule of thumb: the F#m7 wants to walk into a dominant seventh a fifth above.

Progressions that use F#m7

Short progressions that put the F#m7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

i→iv→V key of A minor

F#m7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many minor-key progressions.

→ Build this in the chord builder

Songs that feature F#m7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the F#m7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadF# DomF#7 Maj7F#maj7 NeighbourC#m NeighbourB NeighbourBm NeighbourB7

Keys where F#m7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

Related references

Other ways to put the F#m7 to work across the reference library.

Arpeggiooutline it with arpeggios

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the F#m7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the F#m7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.