# 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.

B♭maj7

## 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](https://strumhold.com/chords/f-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to F major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~F.maj7.E)
- [B♭maj7 ↔ C♯maj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/c-sharp-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to C♯ major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~C%23.maj7.A)
- [B♭maj7 ↔ E♭maj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/e-flat-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to E♭ major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~D%23.maj7.A)
- [B♭maj7 ↔ Bmaj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to B major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~B.maj7.A)
- [B♭maj7 ↔ Emaj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/e-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to E major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~E.maj7.A)
- [B♭maj7 ↔ A♭maj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/a-flat-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to A♭ major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~G%23.maj7.E)
- [B♭maj7 ↔ F♯maj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/f-sharp-major-7/) B♭ major 7 to F♯ major 7 [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~F%23.maj7.E)

## Same root, different color

- [B♭](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-flat-major/), B♭ major
- [B♭m](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-flat-minor/), B♭ minor
- [B♭7](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-flat-7/), B♭ dominant 7
- [B♭m7](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-flat-minor-7/), B♭ minor 7

## Hear yourself get faster

Strumhold listens to your guitar through your device's mic, a headset, or a line-in from your audio interface. You drill a chord change to a metronome and it scores every single change. Free, no account, works offline.

[Drill B♭maj7 in the app](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj7.A~F.maj7.E)