B Major Chord (B)

Need to learn how to play the B major chord on guitar? Check out the chord chart and photo below to see how to play the B chord with ease!

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• Chord Chart & Description
• Notes of the B Chord

How to play the B major guitar chord: Chart, Photo, and Description

Below are a couple of different ways you can play the B chord on guitar.

Option 1: The Full Barre

B major uses the A major shape, moved up two frets with a barre at fret 2. If you practiced stack 2.0 on my A major page, you’ve already been preparing for this one!

To play the B chord, place your left hand fingers on the following strings and frets:

• Index (Finger 1): Barre on strings 1 to 5 at fret 2
  • String 5 (B)
  • String 1 (F#)
• Middle (Finger 2): Fret 4, String 4 (F#)
• Ring (Finger 3): Fret 4, String 3 (B)
• Pinky (Finger 4): Fret 4, String 2 (D#)
• Avoid playing string 6

Stack 2.0 is the A major stack played with fingers 2, 3 and 4 instead of 1, 2 and 3. That leaves finger 1 free to lay the barre down behind it. Your barre only needs to sound strings 5 and 1, because the other three fingers cover everything in between.

B major is one of the more challenging barre chords. Three fingers have to share a single fret, and that can feel cramped at first. If you’re new to barre chords, I recommend starting with an E shape like F major or F sharp major, then coming back to this one.

Keep an eye on your wrist with this shape. It’s tempting to push the wrist way out past the neck to make room for the fingers. I recommend keeping it behind the neck. Pushing it out strains your hand, and it actually makes it harder to cover all the strings.

If you already know B minor, there’s only one note different. B minor has D on string 2 at fret 3, while B major raises it to D# at fret 4.o frets higher. My barre chord guide walks you through building up the barre step by step.

Option 2: The four-string version (beginner)

If you’re a beginner, try leaving out the barre and playing just the top four strings. You’ll find it a lot easier to get every note sounding clean.

To play this variation:

• Index (Finger 1): Fret 2, String 1 (F#)
• Middle (Finger 2): Fret 4, String 4 (F#)
• Ring (Finger 3): Fret 4, String 3 (B)
• Pinky (Finger 4): Fret 4, String 2 (D#)
• Avoid playing strings 6 and 5

Without string 5, your lowest note is F# instead of B, so the chord sounds a bit lighter. Once this feels comfortable, laying finger 1 across to string 5 gives you the full barre.n place, and adding the barre later is just one finger.

What are the notes in a B major chord?

The notes in an Bm chord are:

• B (Root)
• D# (Third)
• F# (Fifth)