# B♭, the B♭ major guitar chord

B♭ is the B major grip moved down one fret, right up against the nut: the index barres five strings at the 1st fret, the ring finger flattens across three at the 3rd, and the low E sits out of the strum. Songs in F lean on it the way songs in G lean on C. This is the stubbornest spot on the neck for a barre, because the strings give the least this close to the nut, so if it feels harder than B did, blame the position, not your hands. Pick the five strings one at a time and listen for the three under the flat ring finger.

B♭

## How to play it

- Index finger flattened across the A string (5th) and high E string (1st), 1st fret.
- Ring finger flattened across the D string (4th), G string (3rd) and B string (2nd), 3rd fret.
- Don't strum the low E string (6th). It stays silent in this shape.

## Changes to practice

Holding B♭ still is the easy part. Songs need you to _arrive_ at it in rhythm, so in Strumhold you practice B♭ as changes, alongside the rest of the A-shape Barres set:

- [B♭ ↔ Bm](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-minor/) B♭ major to B minor [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj.A~B.min.A)
- [B♭ ↔ B](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-major/) B♭ major to B major [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj.A~B.maj.A)
- [B♭ ↔ C♯m](https://strumhold.com/chords/c-sharp-minor/) B♭ major to C♯ minor [Drill](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj.A~C%23.min.A)

## Same root, different color

- [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
- [B♭maj7](https://strumhold.com/chords/b-flat-major-7/), B♭ major 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♭ in the app](https://strumhold.app/#/drill/pair/A%23.maj.A~B.min.A)