Sevenths
B minor 7th chord
Smooth and soulful; a staple of jazz, R&B and funk.
Bm7 is the ii7 chord in A major, iii7 in G major and vi7 in D major. In minor keys: i7 in B minor and iv7 in F♯ minor.
- Notes
- BDF♯A
- Formula
- 1♭35♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · perfect 5th · minor 7th
How to play Bm7
About the B minor 7th chord
Bm7 is the vi7 of D major and the iii7 of G — a softer, easier stand-in for Bm.
Playing it
On guitar, Bm7 is one of the friendlier shapes: x2020x needs just two fingers and lets the open strings ring. Don’t strum the low E and high E strings.
On piano, Bm7 has one black key (F♯) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual Bm7 shape is 2222, with the index finger barring all four strings at the 2nd fret.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form D (D F♯ A) — so you can think of Bm7 as D with B added underneath.
Bm7 contains exactly the same notes as D6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and Bm7 becomes a different chord: drop the A for Bm, raise D to D♯ for B7, lower A to G♯ for Bm6 and swap D for E for B7sus4.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find Bm7 in common progressions such as Bm7–E7–Amaj7 (the jazz cadence in A major).
