Skip to content
Chord & Fret

Harmonic field of B minor on electric guitar

B minor: B – C# – D – E – F# – G – A. In the shapes below, the tonic opens with the bass on B. On the electric guitar a chord needs only a few clear notes — the amp sustains them and fills the space, so you mute the strings you are not playing and let the tone carry the rest. Plugged into an amp, each chord sustains for as long as you hold it, and the tone — clean or driven — shapes the whole sound.

Bm7, x 2 0 2 0 2Bm7123×BDABF#
i · tonic× 2 0 2 0 2
C#m7b5, x 4 5 4 5 xC#m7b51324×C#GBE×
ii° · subdominant× 4 5 4 5 ×
Dmaj7, x x 0 2 2 2Dmaj7111××DAC#F#
III · tonic× × 0 2 2 2
Em7, 0 2 0 0 0 0Em71EBDGBE
iv · subdominant0 2 0 0 0 0
F#m7, 2 4 2 2 2 2F#m7131111F#C#EAC#F#
v · dominant2 4 2 2 2 2
Gmaj7, 3 2 0 0 0 2Gmaj7312GBDGBF#
VI · tonic3 2 0 0 0 2
A7, x 0 2 0 2 0A712×AEGC#E
VII · dominant× 0 2 0 2 0

This is the natural-minor field. In practice the v often becomes V (major) or V7 — borrowed from the harmonic minor — to create the leading tone that pulls back to the tonic.

These are the first positions of every degree of B minor on electric guitar. In Chord & Fret, the Circle of Fifths opens the full field — every degree with all its positions, audio and the key's secondary dominants. Open in Chord & Fret →

See the full harmonic field of B minor →