F major chord on piano
Find the F major notes, inspect their piano positions, and compare inversions with an audible reference.
Select a key to hear its pitch. Use Tab to reach keys and Enter or Space to play them.
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Compare another chord
C Minor
C4 · E♭4 · G4
Notes and intervals
| Degree | Notes | Semitones |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | F4 | 0 |
| 3 | A4 | 4 |
| 5 | C5 | 7 |
The notes and their roles
F major contains F, A and C. From the root, the semitone offsets are 0, 4, 7. The degree formula 1, 3, 5 describes each member relative to the root, not its order in a particular voicing.
| Note | Role | Semitones above root |
|---|---|---|
| F | Root | 0 |
| A | Major third | 4 |
| C | Perfect fifth | 7 |
Read this shape accurately
The triad itself uses only white keys: F, A and C. The B-flat in the F-major key signature is not a chord tone here; a key signature does not mean every accidental appears in every chord.
Change only the third
Hold F and C steady. Lower A by one semitone to A♭ and the quality changes to minor. The root and perfect fifth do not change. This isolates the interval that distinguishes the two triads.
Choose a bass note
The root-position octave example is F4 · A4 · C5. Inversions put a different member in the bass while retaining F as the root. The table gives pitch-class order; move the leading notes up an octave as needed to keep each example ascending.
| Position | Notes from the bass | Bass |
|---|---|---|
| Root position | F · A · C | F |
| First inversion | A · C · F | A |
| Second inversion | C · F · A | C |
A short listening check
Play F major together, then as separate notes. Name the major third before looking at the display. Repeat in first inversion and check that A is the bass while F remains the root.
- Choose the displayed root and quality in the chord explorer.
- Compare root position with one inversion at the same tempo.
- Save both examples in a named practice collection, or export a reference with note names.
Sources and methods
- Open Music Theory: Triads
- Enharmonic notes
- ChordLilt product contract
- Inverted triads