Bb minor the chords in the key
- Scale
- Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab
- Key signature
- five flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb
- Relative major
- Db major
- Also written
- A# minor (seven sharps: F# C# G# D# A# E# B#): the same sounds, spelled from A#
The seven chords
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Bbm | Bb Db F | |
| ii° | Cdim | C Eb Gb | |
| III | Db | Db F Ab | |
| iv | Ebm | Eb Gb Bb | |
| v | Fm | F Ab C | |
| VI | Gb (same notes, spelled F# on its chord page) | Gb Bb Db | |
| VII | Ab | Ab C Eb |
Seventh chords
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| i7 | Bbm7 | Bb Db F Ab | |
| iiø7 | Cm7b5 | C Eb Gb Bb | |
| IIImaj7 | Dbmaj7 | Db F Ab C | |
| iv7 | Ebm7 | Eb Gb Bb Db | |
| v7 | Fm7 | F Ab C Eb | |
| VImaj7 | Gbmaj7 | Gb Bb Db F | |
| VII7 | Ab7 | Ab C Eb Gb |
V and V7: the raised-seventh V most songs use
From the harmonic minor scale: the seventh note raised a semitone, Ab to A.
Common progressions in Bb minor
- i–iv–v straight from the natural minor scale
- i–VI–III–VII the minor pop loop(same notes on the chord pages: Gb is spelled F#)
- i–iv–V with the raised-seventh V, which pulls harder back to i
On guitar
Capo 1. With a capo on fret 1, play the open shapes Am for Bbm, Dm for Ebm, E for F: they sound as the i, iv and V (Bbm, Ebm and F). The VI chord, Gb, does not become an open shape at that fret.
How the chords of Bb minor work
Bb minor uses the notes Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab, five flats: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb: the natural minor scale, the same notes as Db major, its relative major. Its chords from the scale are i Bbm, ii° Cdim, III Db, iv Ebm, v Fm, VI Gb, VII Ab.
In practice most songs in Bb minor play F or F7 as the V chord instead of Fm: raising Ab to A gives a note a semitone below Bb that pulls back to it. That raised seventh comes from the harmonic minor scale (Bb C Db Eb F Gb A). So a song with both Ab and F in it is still in Bb minor, and the finder counts F and F7 as belonging to this key.
Have a list of chords and not sure of the key? The key finder scores it against all 24 keys and can transpose it.
What this page cannot do
- Only major and minor keys. Dorian, Mixolydian and the other modes are not covered: a song in D Mixolydian (D, C, G) uses the chords of G major and will look like G major here.
- Finding a key from chord names is a best fit, not a certainty. A chord list cannot tell a key from its relative major, which shares every chord; the melody and where the song comes to rest decide it.
- Songs change key. A bridge or a last chorus a step higher is a new key, with its own page.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, each chord in root position, not a recorded piano or guitar.