Bb — Bb major chord
Root, major third and perfect fifth. The default three-note chord.
- 1 = Bb
- 3 = D
- 5 = F
- Symbol
- Bb
- Root
- Bb
- Quality
- Major
- Family
- triad
- Notes
- Bb D F
- Degree formula
1 3 5- Semitones from the root
0 4 7- Distinct pitch classes
- 3
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 4 semitones, 3 semitones
- Notation
- Written as the bare letter name, for example C.
- Key
- Bb · Bb major / G minor key signature
Formula
The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.
| Degree | Note | Semitones | Interval from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bb | 0 | Perfect unison |
| 3 | D | 4 | Major third |
| 5 | F | 7 | Perfect fifth |
Inversions
An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.
| Inversion | Bass note | Degree in the bass | Notes above the bass | Semitones above the bass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| root position | Bb | 1 | Bb – D – F | 0 4 7 |
| first inversion | D | 3 | D – F – Bb | 0 3 8 |
| second inversion | F | 5 | F – Bb – D | 0 5 9 |
Playable voicings
These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.
| # | Shape (low string first) | Notes | Degrees | Bass | Span (frets) | Sounding strings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6-8-8-7-6-6 | Bb F Bb D F Bb | 1 5 1 3 5 1 | Bb | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 6-5-3-3-3-6 | Bb D F Bb D Bb | 1 3 5 1 3 1 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 6-5-3-3-6-6 | Bb D F Bb F Bb | 1 3 5 1 5 1 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 6-5-8-7-6-6 | Bb D Bb D F Bb | 1 3 1 3 5 1 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 6-5-3-7-3-6 | Bb D F D D Bb | 1 3 5 3 3 1 | Bb | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 6-5-3-7-6-6 | Bb D F D F Bb | 1 3 5 3 5 1 | Bb | 4 | 6 |
Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.
Related chords and scales
Related
- KeyKey of Bb
- ScaleBb major
- ChordBbm — Minor
- ChordBbmaj7 — Major seventh
- ChordBb6 — Sixth
- ChordBbsus4 — Suspended fourth
- ChordGm — Minor
- ChordBbaug — Augmented