F♯ / G♭ Major Ballad Backing Track

Build your own band: 16 moods and 20 styles in any key and tempo, with drums, percussion, bass, two chord instruments, a pad and lead fills, each with its own sound and volume.

This is an F♯ major major ballad backing track: a soft ballad: fingerpicked chords, long bass notes and a gentle cross-stick groove. It plays the I – vi – IV – V (’50s) progression in F♯ major at 72 BPM in 4/4, round and round, so you can practise soloing, rhythm or both.

F♯ and G♭ are the same pitch; the chords are spelled in F♯. The player above is set to this track. Press Play, slow it down or speed it up, mute the guitar to play the chords yourself, or mute the bass to play the bass line. You can also switch key or style without leaving the page.

How the band plays it

A soft cross-stick groove, long bass notes and fingerpicked chords: the band leaves room for a melody to breathe.

The chords

I – vi – IV – V, the doo-wop progression of the 1950s and of countless ballads since. In F♯ major that is F♯, D♯m, B, C♯.

1F♯

2D♯m

4C♯

In numbers: I = F♯ · vi = D♯m · IV = B · V = C♯. The numbers count from the key’s root, so the same progression works in any key.

The shapes the guitar plays

Open-position shapes where they exist, the easiest barre chords where they do not.

Play the rhythm part yourself

Pick the bass note with your thumb on beat one, then the third, second and first strings in turn with your fingers, eight notes a bar. Mute the guitar in the player and the band leaves the part to you.

What to solo with

F♯ major pentatonic: F♯ G♯ A♯ C♯ D♯. Safe on every chord.
F♯ major: F♯ G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯. Every note of the key.
F♯ minor pentatonic: F♯ A B C♯ E. Of the relative minor: the same five notes from a different root.

Use long, held notes with vibrato and slide into them; the major scale lets you follow the melody of the progression.

Notes to aim for

Scales get you through the track; landing on the chord tones makes a solo follow the changes. The strongest notes over each chord are its 3rd and 7th:

Chord	Root	3rd	5th	7th
F♯	F♯	A♯	C♯	–
D♯m	D♯	F♯	A♯	–
B	B	D♯	F♯	–
C♯	C♯	E♯	G♯	–

How to practise with it

Listen to one time round the progression and count the bars.
Play the root note of each chord on the beat, then the whole chord with the band.
Solo with F♯ major pentatonic, starting and ending phrases on F♯.
Aim for the 3rd of each chord as it arrives (the table above).
Raise the tempo by 5 BPM when it feels easy, or try the same track in another key.