B minor chord on piano

The Bm piano chord (B minor) is three notes: B, D and F♯. Start on B, count three half steps up to D, then four more to F♯.

  • Broot, 1
  • Dminor 3rd, ♭3
  • F♯perfect 5th, 5
B1D3F♯5

Fingers are numbered from the thumb, 1, to the little finger, 5. Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

How to play B minor on piano

  1. Find B, the white key just right of a group of three black keys.
  2. Put your right thumb (finger 1) on B.
  3. Count three half steps up, black and white keys alike, to D. Rest your middle finger (3) there.
  4. Count four more half steps to F♯ for your little finger (5).
  5. Press all three keys together.
  6. For the left hand, play the same keys with fingers 5, 3 and 1, or play B an octave lower with your little finger.

Inversions

  1. B1D3F♯5

    Root position

    B, D, F♯

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  2. D1B5F♯2

    1st inversion

    D, F♯, B

    Right hand 1, 2, 5; left hand 5, 3, 1.

  3. B3D5F♯1

    2nd inversion

    F♯, B, D

    Right hand 1, 3, 5; left hand 5, 2, 1.

Practice B minor

Hold each position of B minor for four beats, then move to the next: root position, 1st inversion, 2nd inversion, and round again. Start at 60 beats a minute and move up toward 100 once every change lands on the beat.

BDF♯
  1. Root positionB–D–F♯
  2. 1st inversionD–F♯–B
  3. 2nd inversionF♯–B–D

The shape of B minor

B minor is white, white, black: F♯ is the only black key. No other minor chord has this pattern.

B minor is built from the B natural minor scale: take its 1st, 3rd and 5th notes, skipping every other note.

  1. B1
  2. C♯2
  3. D3
  4. E4
  5. F♯5
  6. G6
  7. A7

Smooth changes from B minor

Jumping from one root position chord to the next moves the whole hand. The right inversion keeps shared notes still and moves the others the shortest way. Below are the chords built on the 4th and 5th notes of B minor's own key: Em and F#.

  • BEG

    From Bm to Em, play Em in 2nd inversion (B–E–G): B stays, D moves up two half steps to E and F♯ moves up a half step to G.

  • A♯C♯F♯

    From Bm to F#, play F# in 1st inversion (A♯–C♯–F♯): B moves down a half step to A♯, D moves down a half step to C♯ and F♯ stays.

B minor on the staff and on guitar

♯
On the treble staff, B sits on the middle line, D on the fourth line and F♯ on the top line.
×13421BF♯BDF♯
Am shape, 2nd fretFrets, low E to high E: x 2 4 4 3 2
7fr134111BF♯BDF♯B
Em shape, 7th fretFrets, low E to high E: 7 9 9 7 7 7

Keys with B minor in them

  • D majorviD, Em, F♯m, G, A, Bm, C♯dim
  • G majoriiiG, Am, Bm, C, D, Em, F♯dim
  • A majoriiA, Bm, C♯m, D, E, F♯m, G♯dim
  • E minorvEm, F♯dim, G, Am, Bm, C, D
  • F♯ minorivF♯m, G♯dim, A, Bm, C♯m, D, E
  • B minoriBm, C♯dim, D, Em, F♯m, G, A

Progressions that use it

  • i–VI–III–VII, in B minor

    1. iBm
    2. VIG
    3. IIID
    4. VIIA

  • i–iv–v, in B minor

    1. iBm
    2. ivEm
    3. vF♯m

  • i–VII–VI–V (Andalusian cadence), in B minor

    1. iBm
    2. VIIA
    3. VIG
    4. VF♯

  • iiø7–V7–i, in B minor

    1. iiø7C♯m7♭5
    2. V7F♯7
    3. iBm

Related chords

Hearing a chord you can't name? Press its keys in the chord identifier.

Save or print the B minor chord chart

B minor chord on piano keyboard, notes B D F♯
Download the B minor chord chart (PNG). Free to print and share. For every chord on one page, see the piano chord chart.

Practice notes for B minor

B minor is white, white, black: B and D are white keys, and F♯ is the black key on top. It is the only minor chord with that shape, and it is the relative minor of D major.

Where it goes wrong. The little finger reaching for F instead of F♯. F♯ is the first black key of the group of three. Before you press, look at it, and let the little finger reach slightly forward into the black keys while the thumb and middle finger stay on the white B and D.

How to practice it. Play B minor and D major one after the other: they share D and F♯. Then practice the change to E minor in 2nd inversion (B–E–G): the thumb stays on B, and the other two fingers come down onto white keys.

What to listen for. Raise D to D♯ and you have B major, which puts two black keys under the hand. Switching between the two trains the ear to hear one changed note.

What to learn next. E minor and F♯ major, the iv and V chords in B minor, and D major, its relative major.

Questions

What notes are in a B minor chord?

B, D and F♯. B is the root, D is a minor 3rd above it and F♯ is a perfect 5th above it.

How is B minor different from B major?

Only the middle note changes. B major raises D a half step to D♯; the other two notes stay.

What does Bm mean?

The small m means minor: Bm is B minor, B, D and F♯. You may also see it written Bmin or B−.