Bbm — Bb minor chord
Root, minor third and perfect fifth. One semitone lower than the major third.
- 1 = Bb
- b3 = Db
- 5 = F
- Symbol
- Bbm
- Root
- Bb
- Quality
- Minor
- Family
- triad
- Notes
- Bb Db F
- Degree formula
1 b3 5- Semitones from the root
0 3 7- Distinct pitch classes
- 3
- Interval structure
- Stacked from the root: 3 semitones, 4 semitones
- Notation
- Written with a lower-case m after the root, for example Cm.
- 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 |
| b3 | Db | 3 | Minor 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 – Db – F | 0 3 7 |
| first inversion | Db | b3 | Db – F – Bb | 0 4 9 |
| second inversion | F | 5 | F – Bb – Db | 0 5 8 |
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 | 6-8-8-6-6-6 | Bb F Bb Db F Bb | 1 5 1 b3 5 1 | Bb | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | 6-4-3-3-6-6 | Bb Db F Bb F Bb | 1 b3 5 1 5 1 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 3 | 6-4-3-6-6-6 | Bb Db F Db F Bb | 1 b3 5 b3 5 1 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 6-8-8-6-6-9 | Bb F Bb Db F Db | 1 5 1 b3 5 b3 | Bb | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 6-4-3-3-2-6 | Bb Db F Bb Db Bb | 1 b3 5 1 b3 1 | Bb | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 6-4-3-6-2-6 | Bb Db F Db Db Bb | 1 b3 5 b3 b3 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
- KeyEverything in Bb
- ScaleBb natural minor
- ChordBb
- ChordBbm7
- ChordBbm6
- ChordC#
Related
- KeyKey of Bb
- ScaleBb natural minor
- ChordBb — Major
- ChordBbm7 — Minor seventh
- ChordBbm6 — Minor sixth
- ChordC# — Major
- ChordBbaug — Augmented
- ChordBbdim — Diminished