Bb natural minor scale
- Notes
- Bb C Db Eb F Gb Ab
- Formula
- 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7
- Steps
- W H W W H W W (W tone, H semitone)
- Also called
- Bb Aeolian, Bb minor
- Also written
- A# natural minor: A# B# C# D# E# F# G#
Seven notes from Bb up to the next Bb. Each note is written with the letter its degree names, one letter each, so the spelling follows the formula.
Bb natural minor on the piano
From Bb4 to Bb5, the root in blue-green.
Intervals from Bb
| Note | Degree | Interval | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bb | 1 | root | 0 |
| C | 2 | major second | 2 |
| Db | b3 | minor third | 3 |
| Eb | 4 | perfect fourth | 5 |
| F | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| Gb | b6 | minor sixth | 8 |
| Ab | b7 | minor seventh | 10 |
Bb natural minor on the guitar
Standard tuning, high e on top as in tablature, open strings to fret 12. Every dot is a note of the scale; the pattern repeats from fret 12 up.
The seven chords of Bb natural minor
Every other note of the scale stacked on each note. Numerals are measured against the major scale on Bb, so a b marks a chord root a semitone lower than in major.
| Numeral | Chord | Notes | Sound |
|---|---|---|---|
| i | Bbm | Bb Db F | |
| ii° | Cdim | C Eb Gb | |
| bIII | Db | Db F Ab | |
| iv | Ebm | Eb Gb Bb | |
| v | Fm | F Ab C | |
| bVI | Gb (same notes, spelled F# on its chord page) | Gb Bb Db | |
| bVII | Ab | Ab C Eb |
Seventh chords
Same notes, different home note
Bb natural minor uses exactly the same notes as C Locrian, Db major, Eb Dorian, F Phrygian, Gb Lydian and Ab Mixolydian. What changes is the note the music keeps returning to, and with it which chord sounds like home.
The chords, progressions and a capo tip for this scale as a key are on the Bb minor key page.
How Bb natural minor is built
The natural minor has the same seven notes as Db major, its relative major, started from the 6th note. Against Bb major three notes are a semitone lower: D becomes Db, G becomes Gb and A becomes Ab. Aeolian is the modal name of this same scale, so it gets no page of its own.
Its 7th, Ab, is a whole tone below Bb, so the chord on the 5th note is minor and pulls home only weakly. Most music in Bb minor raises it to A for the V chord: that is the Bb harmonic minor scale.
Played some notes and not sure which scale they come from? The scale finder listens to the piano, a MIDI keyboard or the microphone and ranks all 180 scales.
What this page cannot do
- One spelling per scale. A# natural minor is the same sounds written from A#; the root is spelled the way that needs the fewest sharps and flats.
- Equal temperament only. Blues and many folk traditions bend notes between these pitches, and Arabic and Turkish maqam scales use quarter tones that a piano cannot play.
- The guitar diagram shows standard tuning only and does not suggest fingerings; any note can be played in several places.
- The sound is a simple synthesised tone made in your browser, not a recorded instrument.