F# Aeolian
The F# Aeolian mode (also written Gb) — F# G# A B C# D E — shown across the guitar neck.
Also written Gb Aeolian. Gb and F# are the same pitch, though spelling it from Gb would need double accidentals (Gb Ab Bbb Cb Db Ebb Fb), which is why F# is the name in use.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
F# Aeolian is the natural minor — same seven notes, same order. The mode name describes which chord you treat as home, not a different set of notes.
What is F# Aeolian?
F# Aeolian is the seven notes F# G# A B C# D E — the notes of A major started from its 6th degree, F#. Same seven notes as the parent, but with F# as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
F# Aeolian vs F# natural minor
They are the same seven notes in the same order. “Aeolian” is the mode name for the natural minor scale — it says which chord you treat as home, not that any note changed.
Chords in F# Aeolian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is F#m; the rest are the chords of A major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between F#m and D and the mode is unmistakable.
F# Aeolian on the guitar neck
Because F# Aeolian is A major from its 6th note, its natural fingering is position 6 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of A major — the shape whose lowest note is F#. Learn that shape with F# as home — start and end on it, over a drone on F# or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. Play the same shape with A as home and you hear A major instead. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice F# Aeolian on guitar
- Loop position 6 of A major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on F# so your ear hears F# as home rather than A.
- Hold a F#m chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Listen for the chord tones landing on the beat.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
The tool draws F# Aeolian from its own root: the orange dots are on F# and the degrees count from it. The notes are its parent key's, A major; to hear Aeolian, start and end on F#.
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