B Major guitar chord
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About B — root position
B is B, D# and F#.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
B notes and formula
| B | D# | F# |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Also written Bmaj, BM or B major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play B
B in root position puts B in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.
5 of B’s 6 common shapes do this: x24442, 764447, 799877, x-x-9-11-12-11, x-14-13-11-12-11.
Start with x-x-9-11-12-11 — no barre. None of the shapes for B uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. 4 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 14th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x24442 | 2nd fret | B, root position | F# | barred |
| 764447 | 4th fret | B, root position | B | barred |
| xx4447 | 4th fret | F#, 2nd inversion | B | barred |
| 799877 | 7th fret | B, root position | B | barred |
| x-x-9-11-12-11 | 9th fret | B, root position | D# | all fretted |
| x-14-13-11-12-11 | 11th fret | B, root position | D# | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 44 triad voicings, each on its own page.
How to use B
How you get to it. The turn that lands on B is C#m7 to F#7 — the ii and the V of B — and F#7 shares its third and seventh with C#m7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of B belongs to C# minor (the ♭VII), Eb minor (the ♭VI), E major (the V), F# major (the IV), Ab minor (the ♭III) and B major (the I).
What to play over B
Every note of B is in B major pentatonic, B major, B lydian, B mixolydian and B lydian dominant.
Chords near B
Change one note of B and you have Bm (the major third becomes a minor third), Bsus2 (the major third becomes a ninth), Bsus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Bmaj7 (add the major seventh), Badd9 (add the ninth) or B5 (drop the major third).
B is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On B’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.