What notes are in a B major chord?

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

How do you play B major on guitar?

The standard voicing is an A-shape barre at the 2nd fret: index finger across strings 5–1 on the 2nd fret, ring finger barring strings 4–2 on the 4th fret. An open partial voicing using strings 4–1 also works for some styles.

Is B major the same as C♭ major?

They're enharmonic. B major has five sharps; C♭ major has seven flats. B major is the more common notation; C♭ major appears occasionally in deep flat-key contexts.

What's the relative minor of B major?

G♯ minor — it shares B major's five-sharp key signature and is built on the 6th degree of the B major scale.

B major chord — notes, intervals, and practice

B major has five sharps (F♯, C♯, G♯, D♯, A♯) and sits five clockwise steps from C on the circle of fifths. The chord contains B, D♯, and F♯. B major is more often encountered in vocal music transposed for range and in jazz tunes than in standard piano literature — its sharp-side spelling is harder to read at sight than its enharmonic neighbour C♭ major (seven flats), but B major is the more common notation choice.

Intervals

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

B→D#major 3rd4 semitones
D#→F#minor 3rd3 semitones
B→F#perfect 5th7 semitones

On the keyboard

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

On the guitar

One voicing of the B major chord on a six-string guitar fretboard.

Common mistakes

Both the third (D♯) and the fifth (F♯) are sharp. The most common error is reading D♯ as D natural, which produces a B minor chord — a mistake especially easy on guitar where the same fret pattern at a different barre position can voice either chord. The five-sharp key signature is tricky for sight-readers; hand-write the sharps F C G D A on a scrap before reading anything dense in B major.

In context

B major is the I chord in B major (with V = F♯, IV = E), the IV chord in F♯ major, the V chord in E major, and a common bII in A♯ minor / B♭ minor. Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op. 106 ("Hammerklavier") has its slow movement in F♯ minor with a famous excursion to D major; the surrounding harmony often touches B major as a stepping stone. In jazz, ii–V–I in B major runs C♯m7–F♯7–Bmaj7.

Drill it

The B major 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 major chord?: B major contains three notes: B (the root), D♯ (the major third), and F♯ (the perfect fifth).
How do you play B major on guitar?: The standard voicing is an A-shape barre at the 2nd fret: index finger across strings 5–1 on the 2nd fret, ring finger barring strings 4–2 on the 4th fret. An open partial voicing using strings 4–1 also works for some styles.
Is B major the same as C♭ major?: They're enharmonic. B major has five sharps; C♭ major has seven flats. B major is the more common notation; C♭ major appears occasionally in deep flat-key contexts.
What's the relative minor of B major?: G♯ minor — it shares B major's five-sharp key signature and is built on the 6th degree of the B major scale.