Learn all about the F major scale on piano, including its notes, chords, finger positions, relative minor, and fun songs in the key of F major.
Let’s dive deep into playing the F major scale! In this article, we will share a video of how to play the F major scale, chords, and arpeggios by Mr. Hoffman. You’ll also learn the correct finger patterns for the F major scale on piano, and we’ll share a collection of fun songs to try in F major.
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Why the F major scale is a good scale for beginners
The F Major scale offers an entry point for beginner pianists to explore the world of scales that use flats and include black keys. The key of F Major includes one flat, Bb, so it’s a great introduction for beginning piano students to the family of key signatures that use flats.
In order to foster good technique, pianists learning to play in F major learn an alternate finger pattern for the right hand, 12341234. This fingering is different from the fingering used for most keys that have sharps, which is 12312345. It’s important to use the alternate fingering in the key of F major because it avoids crossing a thumb under onto a black key. If you want to try it for yourself, you’ll see how much more comfortable it is to play Bb with your fourth finger and cross your thumb under to play C.
For beginner pianists, developing a familiarity with the F Major scale’s fingerings and chord progressions will equip you to tackle music ranging from classical to rock to pop! F Major is a common key in Western music. In the classical world, it has been used for a variety of moods, from pastoral and serene to dramatic and triumphant. In pop music, it’s frequently used because it fits well within the range of most singers and is comfortable to play on many instruments.
F major scale key signature
The scale of F major has one flat in its key signature, B flat. Here’s how the key signature looks on the treble staff:
The notes of the F major scale
The notes of the F major scale are F, G, A, Bb, C, D, and E.
F major has the same building blocks of any major scale. To build a major scale, beginning with your starting note, you’ll travel from “do” – whole step to “re” – whole step “mi” – half step “fa” – whole step “so” – whole step “la” – whole step “ti” – half step “do.” You’ll notice that the flat on Bb tells us to play a black key there and creates the half step between “mi” and “fa.”
The relative minor of F major
F major’s relative minor key is D minor and F major’s parallel minor is F minor. The parallel major starts on the same note (F) but has a different key signature, while the relative minor key has the same key signature with 1 flat. To build a relative minor, find the sixth scale degree of F major – it’s the note D. In the relative minor, D is now your new “do.”
When musicians think about the relationship between different keys, they organize this information into patterns that describe how the twelve notes that make up an octave come together to make new sonic relationships. Keys can relate to each other as relative major or minor, or parallel major or minor, depending on whether the starting note changes and the key signature stays the same (relative minor) or the starting note stays the same and the key signature changes (parallel minor).
How do you play the F major scale on piano?
You can watch the video above to see the F major piano scale played by Mr. Hoffman!
To play the F major one octave scale with your right hand, start with your fingers in the same position as the pentascale with your thumb on F. Then, you’ll play 12341234 – which is different from some of the other scales you may have learned! If you played the standard 12312345 finger pattern in F major, you would have to cross your thumb under to reach the black key Bb. (You can give this a try now – but it’s very hard to reach!) In order to avoid having to cross under with our thumb to play the black key, in F Major we will change the finger pattern in the right hand so that the fourth finger, or ring finger, plays the Bb. Instead of the 12312345 pattern for an ascending scale, we’ll play 12341234.
Here’s a different way of seeing the right hand placement for the ascending F major piano scale:
(Remember, your thumb is 1!)
1 on F
2 on G
3 on A
4 on B flat
Cross thumb under:
1 on C
2 on D
3 on E
4 on F
In F major, the left hand doesn’t need to change from our standard 54321321 approach. Start by putting your pinky finger (5) on F, and try for yourself. You’ll see that your pointer finger (2) plays the black key (Bb), so you don’t need to change the left hand from the pattern used to play C major.
Here’s the left hand placement for the ascending F major piano scale:
(Remember, your pinky is 5!)
5 on F
4 on G
3 on A
2 on B flat
1 on C
Cross finger three over:
3 on D
2 on E
1 on F
When coming down the scale, simply reverse the finger order like this:
Right hand:
4 on F
3 on E
2 on D
1 on C
Cross finger four over
1 on B flat
Cross finger three over:
3 on A
2 on G
1 on F
Left hand:
1 on F
2 on E
3 on D
Cross thumb under:
1 on C
2 on B flat
3 on A
4 on G
5 on F
Chords of the F major scale
The three most common chords used with in key of F major are the I chord, or tonic, which is built on F, the IV chord, or subdominant, built on Bb, and the V chord, the dominant, built on C:
I chord (F major triad): F – A – C
IV chord (Bb major triad): Bb – D – F
V chord (C major triad): C – E – G
Another chord you’ll see used a lot with the F major piano scale is the vi chord, the D minor chord, which is the tonic chord of the relative minor key, D minor:
vi chord (D minor triad): D – F – A
Other chords in F major include the ii chord, a minor chord built on D, the iii chord, another minor chord built on E, and the vii chord, a diminished chord built on B.
ii chord (G minor triad): G – B – D
iii chord (A minor triad): A – C – E
vii chord (D diminished triad): D – F – A
If you’d like some handy reference guides for chords and triads in all keys, download these free resources from the Hoffman Academy Store:
Songs in the key of F major
Now that you’ve learned the scales and chords in F Major, it’s time to apply your knowledge! Here are four songs we enjoy at different levels in the key of F Major. To find more songs in F Major, you can check out the Hoffman Academy Store and search by key at this link. Remember, for Premium Members, store downloads are included as part of your membership!
For a beginner pianist, our arrangement of Aloha ‘Oe, by Queen Liliuokalani would be a great first piece in F Major. Here’s a video tutorial to help you learn!
For a musician in Unit 8 of the Hoffman Method, check out Deta Deta, a traditional Japanese folk song. Here’s Mr. Hoffman’s video tutorial teaching the right hand of the song.
Ready for an advanced challenge? Try Beethoven’s Sonatina in F Major with a video tutorial by Mr. Hoffman.
Have a sibling or friend to practice piano with? Try our holiday duet arrangement of I Saw Three Ships.