B minor: chord and scale

The B minor chord (Bm) on guitar and piano

B D F♯

Bm is B, D and F♯: the keynote, the minor third and the fifth. It's the chord a song in B minor comes home to, the i in the table below.

Guitar: x 2 4 4 3 2 (low E to high E, x = not played). A barre: the index finger flat across the 2nd fret from the A string, middle finger on the B string at the 3rd, ring and little finger on the D and G strings at the 4th. The low E stays silent: let the tip of the index touch it. It's the open Am shape moved up 2 frets.

Easier shapes: x x x 4 3 2 on the top three strings, no barre. x x 4 4 3 2 adds F♯ on the D string: the shape most chord sheets print as easy Bm. Or a capo at the 2nd fret and an open Am. With two strings open, x 2 0 2 0 2 is Bm7, B D A B F♯, which stands in for Bm in many songs.

Ukulele: 4 2 2 2 (G C E A): B, D, F♯ and B, a barre at the 2nd fret with the ring finger on the G string.

Piano: B (white), D (white) and F♯ (black). From the root, 3 semitones up to the third, 4 more to the fifth. Right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1; inverted, D F♯ B and F♯ B D are the same chord. Bm is also written Bmin or B−.

Play Bm

The B minor scale

B C♯ D E F♯ G A

Key signature: two sharps, written F♯ C♯, the same as D major. Whole and half steps: W H W W H W W, the natural minor, with the half steps between C♯ and D and between F♯ and G.

Harmonic minor raises the seventh to A♯: the chord on the fifth degree turns major (F♯, F♯7) and pulls back to B.

The B harmonic minor scale: B C♯ D E F♯ G A♯. B melodic minor, the sixth and seventh raised going up: B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A♯, natural coming down.

Play harmonic minor Play melodic minor

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: B4 493.9 · C♯5 554.4 · D5 587.3 · E5 659.3 · F♯5 740.0 · G5 784.0 · A5 880.0

Play the scale

B minor scale on piano

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, the fingering of B major: fourth finger on B, thumb on E and B.

B minor scale on guitar

From the 7th fret of the low E string: E 7 9 10, A 7 9 10, D 7 9. From the 2nd fret of the A string: A 2 4 5, D 2 4 5, G 2 4. The B minor pentatonic (B D E F♯ A), the box most solos start from, sits at the 7th fret: E 7 10, A 7 9, D 7 9, G 7 9, B 7 10, high E 7 10.

The chords in B minor

Tap a chord to hear it.

The loop plays i–VI–III–VII: Bm G D A.

On guitar, low E to high E: Bm x24432 · C♯° x4565x · D xx0232 · Em 022000 · F♯m 244222 (F♯7 242322) · G 320003 · A x02220.

B minor chord progressions

• i–VI–III–VII Bm G D A: the loop above.
• i–iv–V Bm Em F♯7: the harmonic minor's way home.
• i–VII–VI–V Bm A G F♯: the Andalusian cadence.
• i–V–VII–IV–VI–III–iv–V Bm F♯ A E G D Em F♯: the eight chords of the Eagles' "Hotel California".
• ii°–V–i C♯m7♭5 F♯7 Bm: the minor jazz cadence.

Keys that mix with B minor

On the Camelot wheel B minor is 10A (Open Key 3m). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 10B D major relative major, the same seven notes
• 9A E minor one step down
• 11A F♯ minor one step up
• 12A C♯ minor two steps up, the energy boost

D major is the relative major: the same notes and two sharps, a different home note. A song in B minor ends on Bm, one in D major on D. B major, the parallel major, keeps B as home with five sharps.

Pieces and songs in B minor

Bach's Mass in B minor, Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony No. 8, Tchaikovsky's "Pathétique" Symphony No. 6, Dvořák's Cello Concerto, Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King", the Adagio of Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, Liszt's Piano Sonata in B minor, Chopin's Prelude Op. 28 No. 6 and Scherzo No. 1 (Op. 20), and Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 (BWV 1067). Pop and rock: "Hotel California" by the Eagles, Avicii's "Wake Me Up", and Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", which opens on Bm.

Questions about B minor

What is the minor version of B major?

B minor: the same keynote with the third, sixth and seventh lowered (D♯ G♯ A♯ to D G A). Five sharps become two.

Is B minor the same as D major?

Same notes, same key signature, different home note. The chord Bm and the chord D share two notes, D and F♯.

Are minor and flat the same thing?

No. Minor names the kind of scale or chord; flat lowers a note a semitone. B♭ minor (Bb minor, "B flat") is another key, five flats. Bb is B♭ typed without the symbol. Written 𝄫, a double flat lowers a note two semitones: B𝄫 sounds as A.

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.

Where B minor 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; the low B of a five-string bass is B0, 30.9 Hz. B1 sits higher than E1 (41.2 Hz) or D♭1 (34.6 Hz), so more of it reaches earbuds and laptop speakers; a phone speaker still plays only its harmonics. Tune an 808 to B.

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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