Bb guitar chord: 5 ways to play Bb major (A#)

Ways to play B♭

Lowest on the neck first. Tap a shape to put it on the fretboard above and hear it. The numbers are fingers (1 is your index), × means leave that string out, and ○ means let it ring open.

What's in B♭

A major chord stacks a major 3rd (four half steps) and a perfect 5th (seven half steps) on the root. For B♭ that gives B♭, D and F. Every shape below is some arrangement of those three notes, with a few doubled in another octave.

Note	Formula	Interval from B♭
B♭	1	Root
D	3	Major 3rd
F	5	Perfect 5th

Major chords sound settled and bright. They are the I, IV and V of every major key, which is why so many songs get by on three of them.

The key of B♭ major

Two flats. B♭ is the A-shape barre at the 1st fret, and E♭ and F, its IV and V, are barres too. A staple of brass bands and big bands.

The seven chords built from the B♭ major scale:

IB♭
iiCm
iiiDm
IVE♭
VF
viGm
vii°Adim

Songs in B♭ major

Johnny B. Goode, Chuck Berry

Keys that use B♭

Every major and minor key whose scale contains all of B♭, D and F, and the chord's Roman numeral in each. Minor keys marked harmonic get the chord from the raised 7th of the harmonic minor scale.

Key	B♭ is the
B♭ major	I
F major	IV
E♭ major	V
E♭ minor (harmonic)	V
D minor	VI
G minor	III
C minor	VII

Progressions to try

I–IV–V in B♭ major

The three-chord backbone of folk, blues and early rock and roll.

I–V–vi–IV in B♭ major

The loop under a huge share of pop songs since the 1980s.

I–vi–IV–V in B♭ major

The 1950s doo-wop progression. Same chords as above, different order, very different mood.

The relative minor is Gm, which shares its key signature. The parallel minor is B♭m, same root with the 3rd lowered.

Other chords on B♭:

See every chord in the library

B♭ major chord