Sevenths
B♭ minor 7th chord
Smooth and soulful; a staple of jazz, R&B and funk.
B♭m7 is the ii7 chord in A♭ major, iii7 in F♯ major and vi7 in D♭ major. In minor keys: i7 in B♭ minor and iv7 in F minor.
- Notes
- B♭D♭FA♭
- Formula
- 1♭35♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play B♭m7
About the B♭ minor 7th chord
B♭m7 is the vi7 of D♭ major and the ii7 of A♭, common in jazz and R&B.
Playing it
There’s no open-string way to play B♭m7 on guitar with the root in the bass, so the standard shape is a barre across the 1st fret (x13121).
On piano, B♭m7 has three black keys (B♭, D♭ and A♭) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual B♭m7 shape is 1111, with the index finger barring all four strings at the 1st fret.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form D♭ (D♭ F A♭) — so you can think of B♭m7 as D♭ with B♭ added underneath.
B♭m7 contains exactly the same notes as C♯6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and B♭m7 becomes a different chord: drop the A♭ for B♭m, raise D♭ to D for B♭7, lower A♭ to G for B♭m6 and swap D♭ for E♭ for B♭7sus4.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find B♭m7 in common progressions such as B♭m7–E♭7–A♭maj7 (the jazz cadence in A♭ major).
