B7 chord on guitar

B7 is the B seventh chord, made of the notes B D# F# A. Most guitarists play it as X 2 1 2 0 2, an open chord. Below are all 6 ways to hold B7 on the guitar, from the lowest on the neck to the highest, and the same chord in Drop D and DADGAD. The TabTunix app plays each one. Check out our full chord library.

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1fr2134
B7

X 2 1 2 0 2

Notes

Degrees: R 3 5 b7. Notes: B D# F# A.

Tuning

Inversions

Voicings

How to play B7

The shape most players use is X 2 1 2 0 2, from the lowest string to the highest. Hold it like this:

  1. Put your middle finger on the A string at fret 2.
  2. Put your index finger on the D string at fret 1.
  3. Put your ring finger on the G string at fret 2.
  4. Put your little finger on the high E string at fret 2.
  5. Let the B string ring open.
  6. Do not play the low E string.
1fr2134
B7
X 2 1 2 0 2

6 ways to play B7

Every shape the chord library holds for B7 in standard tuning, from low on the neck to high. In each one B is the lowest note; they differ in where your hand sits and in which strings ring.

More shapes, for every chord: all guitar chords.

  • 1fr2134
    B7
    X 2 1 2 0 2
    open shape
  • 1fr34
    B7
    X 2 4 2 4 2
    barre at fret 2
  • 4fr432
    B7
    7 6 4 4 4 5
    barre at fret 4
  • 6fr2134
    B7
    7 6 7 8 X X
    closed shape at fret 6
  • 7fr32
    B7
    7 9 7 8 7 7
    barre at fret 7
  • 8fr2134
    B7
    X X 9 8 10 11
    closed shape at fret 8

The notes in B7

R35b7
BD#F#A

A seventh chord is the root, the major third, the fifth and the minor seventh: R 3 (5) b7. The fifth can be left out.

Put another of its notes in the bass and B7 becomes an inversion, written with a slash: B7/D#, B7/F# and B7/A. Below, the first shape of each.

  • 1fr123
    B7/D#
    X X 1 2 0 2
  • 1fr2134
    B7/F#
    2 0 1 2 0 2
  • 1fr123
    B7/A
    X 0 1 2 0 2

Keys and progressions with B7

B7 is one of the chords of these keys, with its number in each. The chords of a key are the chords built on the notes of its scale.

  • V7 in E major
  • bVII7 in C# minor

It stands in these chord progressions of the app, in the key each opens in:

  • Quick-Change Blues in E major: E7, A7, B7

In the 12-Bar Blues every chord is a seventh: in A major it is A7, D7 and E7, in E major E7, A7 and B7.

B7 in Drop D, Drop C, Drop B and DADGAD

  • In Drop D you hold B7 as in Standard: X 2 1 2 0 2.
  • In Drop C, B7 is X 4 6 4 6 4, where Standard has X 2 1 2 0 2.
  • In Drop B, B7 is 0 0 0 2 1 2, where Standard has X 2 1 2 0 2.
  • In DADGAD, B7 is X 2 1 2 0 1, where Standard has X 2 1 2 0 2.

More on each tuning: Drop D, Drop C, Drop B and DADGAD, all under guitar tunings.

  • 1fr2134
    B7 in Drop D
    X 2 1 2 0 2
  • 4fr34
    B7 in Drop C
    X 4 6 4 6 4
  • 1fr213
    B7 in Drop B
    0 0 0 2 1 2
  • 1fr3142
    B7 in DADGAD
    X 2 1 2 0 1

Get the change up to tempo

A chord is yours when you can change to it in time. In TabTunix, put B7 and the chord before it into a chord-change exercise, set a target tempo, and play the change to a click that counts you through it. Rate each take, and the app keeps your best tempo, so you see it climb.

More on how to change chords faster.

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Questions about B7

B, D#, F# and A. As degrees they are R 3 (5) b7: the root, the major third, the fifth and the minor seventh.