GuitarChords.net

B flat minor guitar chord

B flat minor is written Bbm. The notes are B flat, D flat, and F. Both pictures on this page are that chord.

x means muted. 0 means open.

B flat minor

Short code x13321, thickest string first.

Barre fret 1 with the index finger on the A and high E strings.

  1. Low E string: muted, do not play.
  2. A string: fret 1, index finger, note B flat, 1st.
  3. D string: fret 3, ring finger, note F, 5th.
  4. G string: fret 3, pinky finger, note B flat, 1st.
  5. B string: fret 2, middle finger, note D flat, 3rd.
  6. High E string: fret 1, index finger, note F, 5th.

B flat minor uses the notes B flat, F and D flat.

More B flat guitar chords.

Also B flat major, B flat dominant 7, B flat major 7, B flat minor 7, B flat suspended 2, B flat suspended 4, B flat power chord, B flat diminished, B flat augmented.

B flat minor, another shape

Short code 688666, thickest string first.

Barre fret 6 with the index finger on the low E, G, B and high E strings.

  1. Low E string: fret 6, index finger, note B flat, 1st.
  2. A string: fret 8, ring finger, note F, 5th.
  3. D string: fret 8, pinky finger, note B flat, 1st.
  4. G string: fret 6, index finger, note D flat, 3rd.
  5. B string: fret 6, index finger, note F, 5th.
  6. High E string: fret 6, index finger, note B flat, 1st.

B flat minor uses the notes B flat, F and D flat.

Why do these two B flat minor shapes both use a barre?

Both pictures are B flat, D flat, and F. That is B flat minor. The first picture mutes the thick string and bars fret 1. The second picture bars fret 6 on all six strings. Same three notes. The second shape is higher on the neck.

If the B flat minor in a song sounds higher than the first picture, try the second picture lower on this page. It is still B flat minor.

D flat is the note that makes this chord minor instead of major. On the first picture that D flat is on the B string, fret 2, middle finger. Play B flat major after this. On B flat major that note is D. Listen for D flat turning into D.

Progressions that start on B flat minor

Play each line in order.

B flat minor, F major, B flat minor, F major

F major (F) asks. B flat minor (Bbm) answers. Over and over, small and tight. Spy-movie tension, a tango you could almost dance, anything that needs a pulse more than a plot. Drama without a speech.

B flat minor, F minor, B flat minor, F minor

No bright major at all. Quiet, grey, old modal folk and some indie that wants the weather low. Nobody is coming to save the song. That is the point.

B flat minor, F minor, F major, B flat minor

F minor (Fm) keeps it dim, then F major snaps the light, then Bbm. A cheap, effective shiver. 70s rock and film cues use the snap when they need one second of fear, then home.

Songs with B flat minor

Listen for this chord, then use the grip on this page.

I See Fire

B flat minor sits in this Ed Sheeran song. The recording is in B flat minor. The verse is B flat minor, G flat major, A flat major, E flat minor.

B flat minor is the first chord of the verse. Then G flat major, A flat major, and E flat minor.

Ed Sheeran put I See Fire out on November 5, 2013. It plays over the end credits of the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. B flat minor is the home chord. It is the darker chord the song starts on. The verse is B flat minor, G flat major, A flat major, E flat minor.

Peter Jackson asked him to write it. Jackson’s daughter, Katie, had suggested Sheeran after a gig in New Zealand. Jackson emailed him. Sheeran flew to Wellington, watched an early cut at Park Road Post, and went into the studio that same day. He told E! the song was done by six. He wrote it and recorded most of the parts himself.

Jackson told him to focus on the last ten minutes of the film, and to write a song that leads people from Middle-earth back into the room. Sheeran told MTV he tried to do that. The Hobbit was the first book he ever read.