About Bb — triad voicings
Bb is Bb, D and F.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
Bb notes and formula
| Bb | D | F |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Also written Bbmaj, BbM or Bb major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Bb
Three notes on one string set. No seventh, so nothing is claimed about the chord beyond its quality.
Thin on their own, excellent over a bass line or against someone else’s harmony.
Bb has 48 of them, on the top three strings, the bottom three strings, the middle four strings, the top four strings, the bottom four strings, the low-middle three, the high-middle three, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from open position up to the 15th — every inversion the chord has: Bb in the bass, D in the bass and F in the bass. The one to learn first is the Bb shape at the nut, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the middle four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with x-x-8-10-11-10 — no barre. None of the shapes for Bb uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 1st fret. 5 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| x13331 | 1st fret | Bb, root position | F | barred |
| 653336 | 3rd fret | Bb, root position | Bb | barred |
| xx3336 | 3rd fret | F, 2nd inversion | Bb | barred |
| 688766 | 6th fret | Bb, root position | Bb | barred |
| x-x-8-10-11-10 | 8th fret | Bb, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-13-12-10-11-10 | 10th fret | Bb, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-13-15-15-15-13 | 13th fret | Bb, root position | F | barred |
How to use Bb
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Bb is Cm7 to F7 — the ii and the V of Bb — and F7 shares its third and seventh with Cm7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of Bb belongs to C minor (the ♭VII), D minor (the ♭VI), Eb major (the V), F major (the IV), G minor (the ♭III) and Bb major (the I).
What to play over Bb
Every note of Bb is in Bb major pentatonic, Bb major, Bb lydian, Bb mixolydian and Bb lydian dominant.
Chords near Bb
Change one note of Bb and you have Bbm (the major third becomes a minor third), Bbsus2 (the major third becomes a ninth), Bbsus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Bbmaj7 (add the major seventh), Bbadd9 (add the ninth) or Bb5 (drop the major third).
Bb is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On Bb’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.