B major: scale and chords

The B major scale

B C♯ D♯ E F♯ G♯ A♯

Key signature: five sharps, always written in this order: F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯. The last sharp, A♯, sits a half step below the name of the key, which is how any sharp key signature is read. Spelled with flats, the same sounds are C♭ major (below).

Whole and half steps: whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half; the half steps are D♯–E and A♯–B. On a piano every note but B and E is a black key. Intervals from B: major 2nd C♯, major 3rd D♯, perfect 4th E, perfect 5th F♯, major 6th G♯, major 7th A♯.

Piano fingering: right hand 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5, the thumb on B and E; left hand 4 3 2 1 4 3 2 1, starting on the 4th finger, not the 5th, with the 4th again on F♯. Chopin gave this scale to beginners first: the long fingers lie on the black keys and the thumb only meets white ones. He left C major for last, as the hardest to play evenly (his pupils' accounts, Eigeldinger, Chopin: Pianist and Teacher, 1986).

Guitar or bass, one octave from the A string: A string frets 2 and 4 (B, C♯), D string 1, 2 and 4 (D♯, E, F♯), G string 1, 3 and 4 (G♯, A♯, B). The same frets work on a four-string bass. Two octaves from the 7th fret, root on the low E: low E 7 9 (B C♯), A 6 7 9 (D♯ E F♯), D 6 8 9 (G♯ A♯ B), G 6 8 9 (C♯ D♯ E), B 7 9 (F♯ G♯), high E 6 7 (A♯ B).

The chord on the fifth degree, F♯7 (F♯ A♯ C♯ E), pulls back to B.

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: B4 493.9 · C♯5 554.4 · D♯5 622.3 · E5 659.3 · F♯5 740.0 · G♯5 830.6 · A♯5 932.3

Play the scale

B major scale on piano

The B major chord (B) on guitar and piano

B D♯ F♯

B is B, D♯ and F♯: root, major third, perfect fifth. Its symbol is just B (also Bmaj, BM, BΔ): a bare letter always means major, and B minor is written Bm. Besides being the I chord here, B is the V of E major and the IV of F♯ major, which is why guitarists meet it so often in songs in E.

Guitar: x 2 4 4 4 2 (low E to high E, x = not played): the A-shape barre at the 2nd fret, the ring finger flat across D, G and B at the 4th. The tip of the index finger mutes the low E.

Easier shapes: x x 4 4 4 2 leaves out the A string; x x x 4 4 2 keeps only the top three. Beginners often play B7 (x 2 1 2 0 2) instead: it is open and it works as the V chord in E, but it adds an A and is not B major.

Up the neck: 7 9 9 8 7 7, the E shape at the 7th fret, root on the low E.

Piano: B is white, D♯ and F♯ black. Right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1. Inversions: D♯ F♯ B (B/D♯) and F♯ B D♯ (B/F♯).

Play B

Chords in B major

Tap a chord to hear it.

B, E and F♯ are the three major chords; E, the IV, is the subdominant of B major and F♯ the dominant. G♯m is the home chord of the relative minor. On guitar only E has an open shape; the other six are barres, which is why a capo is the usual way in (below).

The loop plays I–V–vi–IV: B F♯ G♯m E.

Keys that mix with B major

On the Camelot wheel B major is 1B (Open Key 6d). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 1A G♯ minor relative minor, the same seven notes
• 12B E major one step down
• 2B F♯ major one step up
• 3B D♭ major two steps up, the energy boost

The minor version of B major is two keys. G♯ minor is the relative minor: the same five sharps and seven notes, G♯ as home. B minor (10A) is the parallel minor: the same keynote, two sharps, three notes apart (D, G, A instead of D♯, G♯, A♯).

Where B major sits

Choir parts (soprano C4–G5, alto G3–D5, tenor C3–G4, bass F2–D4, where two part-writing guides agree): B3–B4 fits the alto part; B2–B3 fits the bass part; no whole B-to-B octave fits the soprano or tenor parts. Find your own range.

As a sub or an 808, the keynote is B1 at 61.7 Hz, or B2 at 123.5 Hz an octave up. Tune an 808 to B.

What plays

Drums, an organ bass and a pluck, the Brumm app's own sounds, four bars at 123 BPM, one chord per bar. The arrows move bass and chords a semitone; the drums stay.

B major with a capo

On guitar the easiest way into B major is a capo and open shapes:

"I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz is played exactly like this: capo 4, G D Em C, which sounds as B F♯ G♯m E, the I–V–vi–IV of the loop above.

Chord progressions in B major

Is B major a hard key?

It depends on the instrument. Piano: no, see Chopin above. Guitar: only because of the barre; with a capo it is as easy as G. Strings: awkward. Viola and cello have no open string in the key, the violin only its E. Band: hard. A B♭ trumpet, clarinet or tenor sax reads concert B major as C♯ major, seven sharps (or D♭ major, five flats); an alto sax reads it as G♯ major, so the part is written in A♭ major. That is why wind players ask for B♭ instead.

As for the hardest key in general: by key signature the hardest to read are the seven-accidental keys, C♯ major and C♭ major; on piano, Chopin's pupils report he thought C major the hardest scale to play evenly (above).

What mood is B major?

In equal temperament every major key has the same intervals: B major differs from C major only in pitch and in which strings ring open. The old key-character lists are still quoted, though. Christian Schubart (Ideen zu einer Ästhetik der Tonkunst, 1806) heard "wild passions" in B major, anger, rage and jealousy among them. He wrote for tunings in which keys really did sound different.

Songs and pieces in B major

• "I'm Yours" (Jason Mraz), "Sweet Caroline" (Neil Diamond), "November Rain" (Guns N' Roses)
• Verdi: "La donna è mobile" from Rigoletto. Delibes: the "Flower Duet" from Lakmé
• Chopin: Nocturnes Op. 9 No. 3, Op. 32 No. 1 and Op. 62 No. 1
• Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1, Op. 8, which ends in B minor. Beethoven: the slow movement of the "Emperor" Concerto
• Haydn: Symphony No. 46. Schubert: Piano Sonata D 575

Questions about B major

Is B major the same as C flat major?

Same piano keys and the same sound; C♭ major spells them C♭ D♭ E♭ F♭ G♭ A♭ B♭, with seven flats against five sharps. Music is almost always written in B.

What modes share the notes of B major?

The same notes started elsewhere give the modes: C♯ Dorian, D♯ Phrygian, E Lydian, F♯ Mixolydian, G♯ Aeolian (G♯ minor), A♯ Locrian.

What is Ab major?

Ab is how A♭ is typed. A♭ major has four flats and is a different key, three semitones below B major.

Then hum over it

The hum button opens Brumm with a short line in the key over a beat. Hum yours and it becomes an instrument. No account, no upload.

Sources

Scales and chords: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Camelot, Open Key: Mixed In Key, Mixgraph. Open strings: Wikipedia. Choir parts: Open Music Theory, Geneseo. Guitar shapes: Wikipedia, Barre chord. Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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