Want to know how to play B Chord On Guitar?
Have you ever wondered why some chords get such a bad rap?
You know the chords I mean, the usual suspects: F, C#m & B and their friends.
You’ve sweated blood trying to get your fingers around these shapes and no matter how hard you try there doesn’t appear to be any hope on the horizon.
The more research you do the more confusing things get.
And some of those diagrams look like you’ll need extra fingers.
Good News: Learning B Chord On Guitar Is Not Difficult At All!
All you need is to know the notes that make up the chord then you can workaround difficult chord shapes.
B Chord On Guitar: Chord Construction
It’s important to realize that when we are learning chords that it’s the notes that we’re placing our fingers on that create the chord.
In fact, that’s the thing that holds most guitarists back.
They don’t understand the language of music.
If the concept of chord construction is new to you check out the process here.
Another key point to understand is that when we are speaking about B chord we are referring to the B major chord.
The B major chord is made up of the notes B – D# – F#
With this in mind, the concept is that anywhere on the guitar fretboard where we can combine these three notes we would produce the sound of the B major chord.
Chord families
As we have discussed in previous articles each scale will produce its own set of harmonies.
I call these collections of chords chord families.
The B chord can be found in the keys of B major, E Major and F# major.
In the key of B major, it functions as a chord one.
For example, the B major harmonized scale would look like this, chord seven is a diminished chord.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| B | C#m | D#m | E | F# | G#m | A#dim |
In this example, the B chord has the feel of arriving home.
By that, I mean that when you play a chord progression you create a harmonic environment.
The chords of a song in the key of B might be: B /// | D#m /// | E /// | F# ///| etc.,
The chord progression might travel to many different and varied chords in the course of the song however your ear will always want the song to finish on B.
B chord on guitar using easy shapes
One of the most obvious places to start, but quite often the most overlooked is to use chord shapes you already know.
It makes sense, doesn’t it?
If you can already play a chord shape with ease why not use a capo to adjust the pitch to the desired sound.
For instance, some easy chord shapes you most likely already know might be: G, A, and E
Here’s how we would convert these shapes to a B chord on the guitar.
For example, the B chord produced by placing a capo at the 2nd fret using an A shape chord formation.
To demonstrate further here is another way to produce the B chord using a capo placed at the 4th fret using a G shape chord formation.
And while we’re at the 4th fret here’s yet another popular shape for the G chord again producing the B chord.
Again let’s move the capo to find more easy B chord shapes.
This time with the capo at the 7th fret using an E chord shape to produce the B chord on the guitar.
Click HERE for a Major Upgrade with your guitar skills, fluency, and musicianship!
B Chord On Guitar Using Barre Chord Formations
The more traditional way to play the B chord is by using a barre chord formation and for certain types of music, this is a good way to play the chord.
Notably the E shape barre chord version.
This shape is a good sounding B barre chord version.
However, you will notice that my A shape barre chord for the B chord is quite different from the traditional presentation.
For example, here’s how I would recommend playing this chord shape.
You can play the chord by using the tip of your 1st finger and barring the rest of the chord with your 3rd finger.
Another key point of note about this shape is that we do not play the first or sixth strings.
It’s a tricky one that takes quite a bit of practice to only play the inside four strings.
However, it’s much better sounding than the traditional chord book versions.
If you want to get a professional sound practice it until you own it.
Chord Variations You Should Know
This is where things start to get interesting.
It must be remembered that there is no such thing as the definitive B chord the focus must always be on the music.
Which B chord you play will depend on the particular musical situation therefore the more B chord variations you have in your guitar toolbox the better.
With this in mind let’s take a look at the B chord played as a power chord.
B5 chords
For the purpose of our discussion, I will notate power chords as 5 chords.
Therefore a B power chord will be presented as B5.
The typical power chord is a two-note structure consisting of the root note and it’s fifth.
Since this type of power chord does not contain the third note of the chord it can function as either a major or minor chord.
Note: The third note of a chord determines whether the chord is a major or minor chord.
For example, the B power chord would consist of the notes B and F#.
In the above diagram, the root-note B is indicated by a red dot whilst the 5th (perfect fifth interval) is marked as p5.
Frequently the sound of the basic two-note power chords is reinforced by doubling up the root-note one octave higher.
Such as in this example.
It’s interesting to listen to the difference in the weight and density of the chord when you rearrange the note sequence of the chord.
For instance, here is an example of a power chord with a fifth in the bass.
When you play this chord you will hear how the chord has a much heavier sound this type of chord is used extensively in heavy rock type music.
Ready To Take Your Guitar Playing to the Next Level? Click HERE
B chord variations
Before we leave the power chord here’s is another useful variation of the B5 chord.
This is an interesting chord as it has an open B string sandwiched in between some closed string notes.
The result is quite striking.
Bruce Springsteen used this chord for his song Born In The U.S.A in fact, it’s the only chord in that song.
Born in the U.S.A consists of the entire song being played with this one chord.
The bass alternates between four bars of B and four bars of E while the guitar plays B chord throughout.
Click on the video below to hear the sound of some of the different B chords we have discussed.
Bsus4 and Bsus2 chords
Again, some interesting variations on the basic B chord sound can be achieved by playing suspended 4th and suspended 2nd chords.
In fact here is a very easy way to play the Bsus4 chord.
Recognize the shape?
It’s the B5 with the octave root note.
The only difference is that in this instance we’re playing the open first string.
And now for an easy way to play Bsus2.
Thinking outside the box
The versatile guitarist is always on the lookout for new ways to play familiar material.
For instance, many pop songs only use three or four chords.
The creative guitarist’s challenge is to find new ways to play these basic chords.
This is where a good understanding of the language of music comes in handy.
Earlier in this article, I mentioned that the B chord can be found in the keys of B major, E Major and F# major.
If for instance, I wanted to create a new way of playing the B chord in the key of E I might play that chord like this.
Notice how I’m using the same shape as E major chord?
Likewise, we could use other chord shapes we already know and move them around the fingerboard until the notes B, D#, and F# are under our fingers.
For example here is a shape I’m sure you will recognize the D chord shape from the open position.
When we move that shape up to the eleventh fret we produce the sound of the B Major chord.
As we said earlier it all depends on the song as to whether a particular chord is appropriate or not.
But certainly, the more you understand the language of music the more interesting your music and playing will be.
Ready To Take Your Guitar Playing To The Next Level?
If so, then I’ve got something else you will definitely want in on then …
(All you’ve gotta do is simply click the button below to discover the secrets most Guitar Players will NEVER know about playing music on the guitar …)
