B♭ Major Chord on Guitar
B♭ B♭ D F 2 shapes Barre chord
Also written A♯ major: the same frets under another name.
Chord diagrams
How to play B♭ Major on guitar
The B♭ Major chord (B♭) is made of B♭, D, F - 1 3 5. On a guitar in standard tuning the easiest way to play it is the A-shape barre at fret 1 (x13331). Below are 2 shapes in all, from the lowest on the neck to the highest; the same chord sounds brighter the higher you play it.
E-shape barre, fret 6 688766
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right). Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little. x = do not play the string, o = open string, a bar = one finger across several strings.
Notes
What notes are in B♭ Major?
The B♭ Major chord has 3 different notes: B♭, D, F. Root, major third (4 half steps up), perfect fifth (7). A guitar chord rarely has as many strings as notes, so shapes double some of them: the e-shape barre, fret 6 sounds all six strings.
| Note | Interval from the root | Half steps |
|---|---|---|
| B♭ | Root | 0 |
| D | Major 3rd | 4 |
| F | Perfect 5th | 7 |
Chords that go with it
Chords in the key of B♭ major
The seven chords built on the B♭ major scale, with the easiest shape of each. I, IV and V are the three major chords that carry most songs in this key; vi is its relative minor.
A progression to strum
- I - V - vi - IVB♭ - F - Gm - E♭
Questions
Frequently asked
How do you play B♭ on guitar?
The A-shape shape x13331: A string fret 1 (finger 1), D string fret 3 (finger 3), G string fret 3 (finger 3), B string fret 3 (finger 3), high E string fret 1 (finger 1); do not play low E. Your index finger lies flat across fret 1.
What notes are in the B♭ Major chord?
The B♭ Major chord (B♭) is made of B♭, D, F. Its formula is 1 3 5. On the guitar, some of those notes are played twice on different strings.
Can I play B♭ without a barre?
There is no common open shape for B♭ in standard tuning, so it is played as a movable shape: a-shape barre, fret 1 (x13331) is the lowest on the neck. If a full barre is hard at first, play only the four highest strings of that shape - the root and the third are still there.
Is B♭ Major the same as A♯ major?
On the guitar, yes: the same frets. The name changes with the key - sharps in sharp keys, flats in flat keys.
Keep playing
Strum B♭, then build a song around it
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