As the tonic (I)B♭ major
Home. The loop leaves B♭maj7 and keeps coming back to it.
B♭maj7 Chord: Guitar, Piano and Notes
The B♭maj7 chord is a major seventh chord built on the root note B♭. Its notes are B♭, D, F and A. It's enharmonically the same chord as A♯maj7.
Transpose
Quality
Short answer
Major seventh chords are lush, open and slightly jazzy. Stacking a major third on top of a major triad gives them a dreamy colour often heard in bossa nova, soul and modern R&B.
- Notes
- B♭ · D · F · A
- Formula
- 1 · 3 · 5 · 7
- Semitones
- 0 · 4 · 7 · 11
- Note
- B♭
- Quality
- Major 7
- Symbol
- B♭maj7
B♭maj7 on piano
4 notesView:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
To play B♭maj7 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. Practice moving in and out of the chord slowly, then bring in a metronome.
- B♭1
- D3
- F5
- A7
B♭maj7 on guitar
View:
Switch to the interactive diagram to hear the chord, change voicing and swap finger numbers for note names.
On guitar, B♭maj7 is commonly played with the voicing shown above. This one is a barre shape: keep the index finger flat across the fretboard and curve the others so they don't mute the strings next to them. Strum only the strings marked as active in the diagram.
B♭maj7 chord notes
Also known as A♯maj7
| Degree | Interval | Semitones | Note | Hear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Root | 0 | B♭(Bb) | |
| 3 | Major third | 4 | D | |
| 5 | Perfect fifth | 7 | F | |
| 7 | Major seventh | 11 | A |
How to use the B♭maj7 chord
The B♭maj7 chord is built from a root, a major third, a perfect fifth and a major 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.
Major seventh chords colour jazz standards, bossa nova, soul and modern pop. They most often serve as Imaj7 or IVmaj7 in a major key to add warmth without changing the function.
Where B♭maj7 is used
A major chord is at home as a tonic, and just as useful as the IV or the V of a neighbouring key. Each progression below is written in the key its numerals name.
As the IVF major
- Imaj7Fmaj7
- IVmaj7B♭maj7
- V7C7
- Imaj7Fmaj7
B♭maj7 is the step away from home that makes the return feel like a return.
As the goal of a ii-V-IB♭ major
The oldest cadence there is: two chords of preparation, then B♭maj7.
Questions people ask
- What notes are in the B♭maj7 chord?
- The B♭maj7 chord contains B♭, D, F and A (Bb, D, F and A in plain text).
- Is the B♭maj7 chord major or minor?
- B♭maj7 is a major seventh chord. Major seventh chords are lush, open and slightly jazzy. Stacking a major third on top of a major triad gives them a dreamy colour often heard in bossa nova, soul and modern R&B.
- How do you play B♭maj7 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.
- How do you play B♭maj7 on guitar?
- B♭maj7 is typically played with the fingering shown in the diagram above. If one of the chord tones lines up with an open string, an open position is worth trying too.
- What is another name for the B♭maj7 chord?
- B♭maj7 is enharmonically equivalent to A♯maj7. Both chord names describe exactly the same notes, but the spelling depends on the key you are playing in.