What notes are in a B♭ minor chord?

B♭ minor contains three notes: B♭ (the root), D♭ (the minor third), and F (the perfect fifth).

How do you play B♭ minor on guitar?

Most commonly an A-shape barre at the 1st fret: index finger across strings 5–1 on the 1st fret, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 4th string, pinky on the 3rd fret of the 3rd string, middle finger on the 2nd fret of the 2nd string.

Is B♭ minor the same as A♯ minor?

They're enharmonic — same three pitches. A♯ minor would have seven sharps (including F𝄪 in some contexts); B♭ minor (five flats) is the standard spelling. A♯ minor only appears inside C♯ major's key area.

What pieces are famous in B♭ minor?

Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 (opening), Chopin's "Funeral March" Sonata Op. 35, his Scherzo No. 2 Op. 31, and Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No. 2 are all in B♭ minor. The key carries a particularly dark, funereal association.

Bb minor chord — notes, intervals, and practice

B♭ minor is a five-flat key with a famously dark, brooding colour. The chord contains B♭, D♭, and F. Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto opens in B♭ minor (before unexpectedly modulating to D♭ major in the famous theme), and Chopin's "Funeral March" Sonata Op. 35 is centred here. The relative major is D♭ major.

Intervals

The Bb minor chord stacks two thirds on the root. Each interval and its size in semitones:

Bb→Dbminor 3rd3 semitones
Db→Fmajor 3rd4 semitones
Bb→Fperfect 5th7 semitones

On the keyboard

Each note of the Bb minor chord highlighted on a piano. Pitch class is what matters — any octave works.

On the guitar

One voicing of the Bb minor chord on a six-string guitar fretboard.

Common mistakes

Both the root and the third are flat: B♭ and D♭. The fifth is plain F. The most common error is reading the third as D natural, which would voice a B♭ major chord (B♭-D-F), opposite-colour from B♭ minor. The five-flat key signature has B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭ in that order; D♭ is the third in the order of flats, which can be a useful mnemonic for placing it correctly.

In context

B♭ minor is the i chord in B♭ minor, the vi chord in D♭ major (the relative-major position), the ii in A♭ major, and the iii in G♭ major. Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 opens with crashing B♭ minor chords before pivoting to its famous D♭ major theme — a textbook relative-key relationship. Chopin's Op. 35 "Funeral March" Sonata is one of the most iconic pieces in B♭ minor.

Drill it

The Bb minor chord is one of 48 in the Chord Trainer. Open the full trainer to practice it alongside related chords with timing and best-time tracking.

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Frequently asked

What notes are in a B♭ minor chord?: B♭ minor contains three notes: B♭ (the root), D♭ (the minor third), and F (the perfect fifth).
How do you play B♭ minor on guitar?: Most commonly an A-shape barre at the 1st fret: index finger across strings 5–1 on the 1st fret, ring finger on the 3rd fret of the 4th string, pinky on the 3rd fret of the 3rd string, middle finger on the 2nd fret of the 2nd string.
Is B♭ minor the same as A♯ minor?: They're enharmonic — same three pitches. A♯ minor would have seven sharps (including F𝄪 in some contexts); B♭ minor (five flats) is the standard spelling. A♯ minor only appears inside C♯ major's key area.
What pieces are famous in B♭ minor?: Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 (opening), Chopin's "Funeral March" Sonata Op. 35, his Scherzo No. 2 Op. 31, and Rachmaninoff's Piano Sonata No. 2 are all in B♭ minor. The key carries a particularly dark, funereal association.