F# Ionian

What is F# Ionian?

F# Ionian is the seven notes F# G# A# B C# D# E# — the notes of F# major started from its 1st degree, F#. Same seven notes as the parent, but with F# as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.

F# Ionian vs F# major

They are the same seven notes in the same order. “Ionian” is the mode name for the major scale — it says which chord you treat as home, not that any note changed.

Chords in F# Ionian

Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is F#; the rest are the chords of F# major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between F# and B and the mode is unmistakable.

All the chords in F# major, with shapes and numerals →

F# Ionian on the guitar neck

Because F# Ionian is F# major from its 1st note, its natural fingering is position 1 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of F# 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. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.

• The seven positions of F# major — the Ionian shape is position 1 →
• See every F# Ionian note across the whole neck →

How to practice F# Ionian on guitar

1. Loop position 1 of F# major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on F# so your ear hears F# as home rather than F#.
2. Hold a F# chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Listen for the chord tones landing on the beat.
3. Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.