B minor seventh
How to play Bm7 — Minor seventh
Bm7 (Minor seventh)B · D · F♯ · A
Guitar samples: Acoustic guitar — University of Iowa (via tonejs-instruments, CC-BY 3.0)
B minor seventh — notes and structure
The Bm7 chord is a minor triad with a flat seventh — mellow and soulful, and everywhere in jazz, funk and R&B.
The Bm7 minor seventh consists of the notes B, D, F♯, A. Its interval structure is R–3–5–7 — the root, then each chord tone stacked above it. This is the same chord you see in the interactive finder above, drawn on the guitar fretboard with the root circled and every chord tone labelled.
Bm7 stacks a minor third (D), a perfect fifth (F♯) and a minor seventh (A) above the root B.
The finder shows 2 ways to play Bm7 — an open-position shape reaching up to the 4th fret. 1 of them use a barre.
What key is Bm7 in?
Every note of Bm7 belongs to the scales below, so the chord sounds at home in each of these keys — the roman numeral is the degree it sits on.
- G major — the iii chord
- D major — the vi chord
- A major — the ii chord
- E minor — the v chord
Chords that go with Bm7
In G major, the chords built on the first, fourth and fifth degrees carry most songs — put Bm7 next to these:
Frequently asked questions
- What notes are in the B minor seventh chord?
- The Bm7 chord contains the notes B, D, F♯, A. It is a minor triad with a flat seventh — mellow and soulful, and everywhere in jazz, funk and R&B.
- How many ways can you play Bm7 on guitar?
- 2 voicings are shown on this page — from open position up the neck — each with its own fingering diagram and audio.
- Is Bm7 a hard chord to play?
- Some voicings use a barre, which takes practice, but the chord is very playable once that shape is comfortable.
- What key does Bm7 belong to?
- Bm7 fits G major (where it is the iii chord), D major (where it is the vi chord), A major (where it is the ii chord) — every note of the chord is in those scales.