B chord on guitar

B is the B major chord, made of the notes B D# F#. Most guitarists play it as X 2 4 4 4 2, a barre chord at fret 2. Below are all 5 ways to hold B 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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B

X 2 4 4 4 2

Notes

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

Tuning

Inversions

Voicings

How to play B

The shape most players use is X 2 4 4 4 2, from the lowest string to the highest. Hold it like this:

  1. Lay your index finger flat across the five strings from the A to the high E string at fret 2.
  2. Put your middle finger on the D string at fret 4.
  3. Put your ring finger on the G string at fret 4.
  4. Put your little finger on the B string at fret 4.
  5. Do not play the low E string.

B is a barre chord on the fifth string: the barre starts on the A string, and the low E string is not played.

1fr234
B
X 2 4 4 4 2

5 ways to play B

Every shape the chord library holds for B 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.

  • 1fr234
    B
    X 2 4 4 4 2
    barre at fret 2
  • 4fr324
    B
    7 6 4 4 4 7
    barre at fret 4
  • 7fr342
    B
    7 9 9 8 7 7
    barre at fret 7
  • 9fr1243
    B
    X X 9 11 12 11
    closed shape at fret 9
  • 11fr432
    B
    X 14 13 11 12 11
    barre at fret 11

An easier way to play B

Badd9, held as X X 9 8 7 9, often stands in for B. It needs no barre and four fingers. It is a different chord: it adds C# to B, D# and F#, so it sounds close to B but not the same.

7fr3214
Badd9
X X 9 8 7 9

The notes in B

R35
BD#F#

A major chord is the root, the major third and the fifth: R 3 5.

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

  • 1fr142
    B/D#
    X X 1 4 0 2
  • 1fr234
    B/F#
    2 2 4 4 4 2

Keys and progressions with B

B 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.

  • V in E major
  • IV in F# major
  • I in B major
  • bVII in C# minor
  • bVI in Eb minor
  • bIII in G# minor

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

  • Major to Minor Four in G major: G, B, C, Cm

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

  • In Drop D you hold B as in Standard: X 2 4 4 4 2.
  • In Drop C, B is X 4 6 6 6 4, where Standard has X 2 4 4 4 2.
  • In Drop B, B is 0 0 0 2 3 2, where Standard has X 2 4 4 4 2.
  • In DADGAD, B is X X 9 8 9 9, where Standard has X 2 4 4 4 2.

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

  • 1fr234
    B in Drop D
    X 2 4 4 4 2
  • 4fr234
    B in Drop C
    X 4 6 6 6 4
  • 1fr132
    B in Drop B
    0 0 0 2 3 2
  • 8fr2134
    B in DADGAD
    X X 9 8 9 9

Get the change up to tempo

A chord is yours when you can change to it in time. In TabTunix, put B 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 B

B, D# and F#. As degrees they are R 3 5: the root, the major third and the fifth.