Triads
B major chord
Bright, stable and resolved — the foundation of most songs.
B is the I chord in B major, IV in F♯ major and V in E major. In minor keys: III in G♯ minor, V in E minor, VI in E♭ minor and VII in C♯ minor.
- Notes
- BD♯F♯
- Formula
- 135
- Built from
- root · major 3rd · perfect 5th
How to play B
About the B major chord
B major shows up most in songs in E, where it’s the V chord that leads back home — which makes it a well-known stumbling block, since guitarists have to play it as a barre. It has five sharps.
Playing it
On guitar, B is most often played as a barre chord across the 2nd fret (x24442).
On piano, B has two black keys (D♯ and F♯) and one white key.
On ukulele the usual B shape is 4322, with a small 2-string barre at the 2nd fret.
Related chords
B shares two of its three notes with G♯m (B and D♯), its relative minor, and with D♯m (D♯ and F♯). That overlap is why these chords sound so natural next to each other — and why they can often stand in for one another.
Move a single note and B becomes a different chord: lower D♯ to D for Bm, add A for B7, add A♯ for Bmaj7 and raise D♯ to E for Bsus4.
Where you’ll hear it
You’ll find B in common progressions such as B–F♯–G♯m–E (the pop progression in B major), B–E–F♯–E (three-chord rock in B major) and B–G♯m–E–F♯ (the ’50s progression in B major).
