F#m7

F#m7 is F#, A, C# and E, a minor seventh. The shape this page opens on is written 242222, lowest string first.

Note by note. F# is the root, A is the minor third, C# is the fifth and E is the flat seventh.

Also written F#min7, F#-7 or F# minor 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for F#m7 on the guitar, and 35 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of F#m7 and you have F#m (with one note taken away), F#m6 (with one note moved), F#m7b5 (with one note moved), F#m9 (with one note added), F#mMaj7 (with one note moved) or F#madd9 (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of F#m7 belongs to C# minor (the iv), D major (the iii), E major (the ii), F# minor (the i), A major (the vi) and B minor (the v).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: 242222, xx4655, x9797x, x-9-7-9-10-x, x-9-11-9-10-9, x-x-11-11-10-12.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for F#m7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 2 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 12th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. F#m7 has 202xxx, x979xx, 14-12-14-x-x-x, 2x22xx, x-9-x-9-10-x, 14-x-14-14-x-x, x-9-14-14-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. F#m7 has xx2222, 2422xx, xx4655, x7767x, 9979xx, xx7979, x-9-11-9-10-x, x-x-11-11-10-12.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. F#m7 has x4x252, 2x222x, 5x465x, x7x675, 9x797x, x-9-x-9-10-9, 12-x-11-11-10-x, x-12-x-11-14-12.

Open string. An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful. F#m7 has 24220x, 57460x, 202200, 00660x, x06600, 004600.

Tensions. A shell of F#m7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (G#), the 11 (B) and the 13 (D#).

What kind of chord this is. F#m7 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. minor chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.