F♯ Augmented Chord on Piano
The F♯ Augmented chord is made of 3 notes — F♯4 A♯4 D5. Play it right here in your browser: no install, no sign-up.
What notes are in the F♯ Augmented chord?
The F♯ Augmented chord is built from F♯4 A♯4 D5. By scale degrees that is 1 · 3 · ♯5 — in other words root · major 3rd · augmented 5th (0 · 4 · 8 semitones above the root F♯). The root of the chord is F♯, and the other tones are stacked above it in thirds.
What gives the F♯ Augmented chord its sound?
An augmented chord floats. It is built from two stacked major thirds — root, a note four semitones above, and another four semitones above that — which slices the octave into three equal steps. Because the shape is perfectly symmetric, the chord has no single clear root and nowhere obvious to resolve, giving it a dreamy, weightless, almost hallucinatory quality.
Augmented chords appear wherever a songwriter wants to blur the sense of key: the shimmering bridge of a jazz standard, a suspenseful film cue, or the moment a melody seems to slip sideways into another key. They also colour the famous whole-tone writing of Debussy. Play F♯ augmented here and listen for how it hangs in the air, refusing to say whether it is happy or sad.
Everything here is ready to play in your browser, with no install and no sign-up. The highlighted keys above show exactly where the F♯ Augmented chord sits on this keyboard, and Play notes sounds the whole chord at once so you can hear it before you learn it. Carry it over to the online piano and you can play the chord on any of seven real instruments — try it on the Piano, then on the Rhodes or Music Box to hear how the same notes change character — shift it into any key with the Octave and Transpose controls, or hold Space to let it ring like a sustained piano chord.
Chords rarely sound their best in isolation. To put the F♯ Augmented chord to work, browse the complete set of piano chords for every root and quality, look at the scales that share these notes, or drop the chord into a real piece from the easy piano songs, where each song has its own playable keyboard. You can also record your own version: use the online piano recorder to capture a short progression built around this chord and download it as an MP3 to keep.
If you are just starting out, the simplest way to learn any chord is to play it slowly, name each note out loud, and then play it in a few different octaves with the Octave control. Once your fingers know the shape, practice switching between this chord and its nearest relative — the one a fifth above or below — until the move feels automatic. That single habit builds the muscle memory behind almost every song you will ever play.
Play the F♯ Augmented chord
The highlighted keys below are F♯4 A♯4 D5. Click them, press Play notes to hear the whole chord, or use your computer keyboard.
On this site's default keyboard layout, those notes are at F♯4 = 4, A♯4 = 6, D5 = I.
Chord inversions
In root position, play the tones from lowest to highest: F♯4 A♯4 D5.
First inversion: A♯4 D5 F♯5 — on the default layout at A♯4 = 6, D5 = I, F♯5 = -.
Second inversion: D5 F♯5 A♯5 — on the default layout at D5 = I, F♯5 = -, A♯5 = ⌫.
Related chords & scales
Frequently asked questions
What notes are in the F♯ Augmented chord?
The F♯ Augmented chord is built from the notes F♯4, A♯4, D5. The root is F♯, and the other tones are root · major 3rd · augmented 5th.
How do I play the F♯ Augmented chord?
The chord tones are F♯4, A♯4, D5. On this site's default keyboard layout, press the highlighted keys shown above, or click Play notes to hear the full chord.
How is a piano chord built?
Most piano chords are built by stacking notes a third apart, starting from a root. A basic triad adds a third and a fifth above the root; stacking more thirds on top creates 7th chords and beyond. The exact quality of each interval — major, minor, diminished or augmented — is what gives each chord its colour.
What is the Augmented chord used for?
The Augmented chord has the distinct character described in the section above. In practice it appears wherever that mood is needed — as a resting place, a moment of tension, or a colourful passing chord — and it pairs naturally with the chords listed in the progressions and related sections on this page.