B♭maj7, the B♭ major 7 guitar chord
B♭maj7 is open Amaj7 moved up one fret, with the index barring five strings where the nut was. The low E stays out. Coming from the B♭ barre, the ring finger’s flat barre breaks into three fingers, and the G string drops a fret. That string is the major 7th. If it buzzes or goes quiet you are back to plain B♭, so pick it by itself before you strum. Family Affair uses this chord.
How to play it
- Index finger flattened across the A string (5th) and high E string (1st), 1st fret.
- Middle finger on the G string (3rd), 2nd fret.
- Ring finger on the D string (4th), 3rd fret.
- Pinky on the B string (2nd), 3rd fret.
- Don't strum the low E string (6th). It stays silent in this shape.
Changes to practice
Holding B♭maj7 still is the easy part. Songs need you to arrive at it in rhythm, so in Strumhold you practice B♭maj7 as changes, alongside the rest of the Barre Major 7ths set:
- B♭maj7 ↔ Fmaj7 B♭ major 7 to F major 7 Drill
- B♭maj7 ↔ C♯maj7 B♭ major 7 to C♯ major 7 Drill
- B♭maj7 ↔ E♭maj7 B♭ major 7 to E♭ major 7 Drill
- B♭maj7 ↔ Bmaj7 B♭ major 7 to B major 7 Drill
- B♭maj7 ↔ Emaj7 B♭ major 7 to E major 7 Drill
- B♭maj7 ↔ A♭maj7 B♭ major 7 to A♭ major 7 Drill
- B♭maj7 ↔ F♯maj7 B♭ major 7 to F♯ major 7 Drill