As the VE major
B7 is the chord that wants to resolve, so ending the loop on it hands straight back to the top.
B7 Chord: Guitar, Piano and Notes
The B7 chord is a dominant seventh chord built on the root note B. Its notes are B, D♯, F♯ and A.
Transpose
Quality
Short answer
Dominant seventh chords sound tense and bluesy. The minor seventh on top of a major triad creates a pull toward a resolution, which is why this chord powers the blues and drives cadences in jazz and pop.
- Notes
- B · D♯ · F♯ · A
- Formula
- 1 · 3 · 5 · ♭7
- Semitones
- 0 · 4 · 7 · 10
- Note
- B
- Quality
- Dominant 7
- Symbol
- B7
B7 on piano
4 notesView:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
To play B7 on piano, place your right hand with your thumb on B, index finger on D♯, middle finger on F♯ and little finger on A. Press the keys together and listen for an even sound. On the keyboard D♯ and F♯ are black keys and B and A are white. Practice moving in and out of the chord slowly, then bring in a metronome.
- B1
- D♯3
- F♯5
- A♭7
B7 on guitar
View:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
On guitar, B7 is commonly played with the voicing shown above. The fretted notes sit between frets 1 and 2. String 2 rings open. Don't play string 6.
B · D♯ · F♯ · A
Play B7 on the online piano
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B7 chord notes
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | Note | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | B | |
| 3 | Major third | 4 | D♯(D#) | |
| 5 | Perfect fifth | 7 | F♯(F#) | |
| ♭7 | Minor seventh | 10 | A |
How to use the B7 chord
The B7 chord is built from a root, a major third, a perfect fifth and a minor seventh. Start at the root B and stack the intervals to get the whole chord: B, D♯, F♯ and A. The same formula gives you the chord in any other key.
Blues, jazz, funk and rock'n'roll all run on dominant seventh chords. They typically act as the V7 resolving back to the tonic, or carry a twelve-bar blues from end to end.
In major keys B7 is the V7 in E major; in minor keys it's the V7 in E minor and the VII7 in C♯ minor. As the V7 of E minor it takes its third, D♯, from the harmonic minor scale: the key's seventh degree, raised a half step.
How B7 differs from similar chords
B7 and Bmaj7 look alike on paper and sound opposite: the seventh of B7 is a whole step below the octave, the seventh of Bmaj7 only a half step. That minor seventh forms a tritone with the major third, the interval that makes B7 want to move on. Bmaj7 has no tritone, so it can rest.
Where B7 is used
A dominant chord wants to resolve. Its home is the V of a major key - and the I of a blues, where the pull never lets up.
As the I of a bluesB major
The twelve-bar shape boiled down. The tonic is itself a dominant seventh, which is what makes it a blues.
As the V of a turnaroundE major
The turnaround at the end of a chorus: B7 is the chord that sends it round again.
Questions people ask
- What notes are in the B7 chord?
- The B7 chord contains B, D♯, F♯ and A (B, D#, F# and A in plain text).
- Is the B7 chord major or minor?
- B7 is a dominant seventh chord. Dominant seventh chords sound tense and bluesy. The minor seventh on top of a major triad creates a pull toward a resolution, which is why this chord powers the blues and drives cadences in jazz and pop.
- What key is the B7 chord in?
- In major keys B7 is the V7 in E major; in minor keys it's the V7 in E minor and the VII7 in C♯ minor. As the V7 of E minor it takes its third, D♯, from the harmonic minor scale: the key's seventh degree, raised a half step.
- How do you play B7 on piano?
- Place your fingers on B, D♯, F♯ and A and play them together. The root usually goes to the little finger of the left hand, the upper notes to the right. On the keyboard D♯ and F♯ are black keys and B and A are white.
- How do you play B7 on guitar?
- Use the fingering in the diagram above. The fretted notes sit between frets 1 and 2. String 2 rings open. Don't play string 6.
- What chords work well with B7?
- B7 pairs naturally with the chords in the related section: a perfect fifth up or down, the relative major or minor, and anything sharing two notes with it.