The B chord is an integral component of many songs and can be played in various shapes – some more difficult than others.
Beginner guitarists may find the B chord to be challenging at first, but once mastered it can open up new musical possibilities. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly played B chord guitar chords.
Major
Major chords are usually the first chords most guitarists learn on the guitar, as they’re generally simple and don’t require awkward finger bends like those found with F major chords (cough cough F major chord).
An essential element of major chords, the tritone, is composed of three notes. When one note is moved downward by one fret (or octave), this gives rise to what’s known as a lowered or flat third chord – still classified as major, yet different due to using a diminished interval instead of perfect fifths for its structure.
Augmented and diminished intervals create a vibrant sound, popularly used across several popular music styles as well as classical pieces like Voulez-Vous by Abba. To play a B major chord, place your index (1st) finger on the 1st string, 2nd fret; place your middle (2nd) finger on 3rd string, 4th fret – see diagrams below for how this looks on a guitar fretboard.
Minor
B minor is an ideal transition chord between major chords; many guitarists rely on it when switching songs to the major scale, or as the opening chord in songs with an emotional or melancholic theme. The B minor scale contains seven notes which can be arranged to form various chords – its melancholy sound makes it ideal for mournful songs.
This chord can often be played as a barre chord and requires considerable strength to fret the strings. But there are easier ways of playing it; one such method involves placing your first finger on the fifth string second fret before fretting its fourth string with other fingers – this form of the B minor chord is known as a power chord.
One way to play the B minor chord is by placing one finger on the fifth string 2nd fret and pressing down with other fingers to mutes out the sixth string – this form may be harder for beginners who wish to avoid learning bar chords altogether.
Mixolydian
The Mixolydian mode is an ideal chord scale for blues and funk music, featuring the same interval formula as Ionian mode (major scale), but with a flat seventh (b7). Additionally, this scale is often known as dominant scale.
To play a B chord in Mixolydian, place your little (4th) finger on the 2nd (thinnest) string at the 4th fret and play a chord consisting of B, D# and F# at this frequency. As an alternative you could use G shape using your little finger at 1st (thicker) string 7th fret instead.
Mixolydian works beautifully over any dominant seventh chord; just be careful not to clash it with a major seven chord, which would cause dissonance if its 7 is higher than the b7 of Mixolydian mode. To avoid this mismatch, target certain notes in your scale when playing Mixolydian over dominant chords by targeting different notes from its scale – that way you’ll avoid clashing chords that could create dissonant sounds when combined together.
Dorian
Dorian mode is another mode that works great with minor 7th chords, similar to Aeolian in that it features a flat three but is significantly more minor in tone due to the absence of a major 3rd.
Below you can see an example of chord progression using all the tones from the B Dorian scale, where roman numeral ‘vi’ indicates this chord as being part of its mode and diminished symbol ‘o’ adds emphasis that it is indeed diminished chord.
Note that this chord progression can also be played using B Dorian b2, the 2nd mode of B natural minor scale and known as minor jazz scale. Because this mode contains the same notes as B Melodic Minor but begins on a different note, practicing both scales simultaneously will ensure quick switching when required.