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Chord & Fret

Harmonic field of B minor

The harmonic field of B minor is the set of seven chords born from the B minor scale — one on each of its notes. The table shows each in two versions: the triad (the three-note chord) and the seventh chord (the same chord with a fourth note, the seventh, that enriches it).

Notes: B – C# – D – E – F# – G – A
DegreeTriadSeventhFunction
iBmBm7Bm7Bm7Bm7tonic
ii°C#°C#m7b5subdominant
IIIDDmaj7Dmaj7Dmaj7Dmaj7tonic
ivEmEm7Em7Em7Em7subdominant
vF#mF#m7F#m7F#m7F#m7dominant
VIGGmaj7Gmaj7Gmaj7Gmaj7tonic
VIIAA7A7A7A7dominant

The roman numerals mark the chord's position in the scale: I is the first degree, V the fifth. Uppercase = major chord; lowercase = minor; ° = diminished.

Tonic chords stabilize and rest; subdominant chords prepare motion; dominant chords build the tension that asks for resolution.

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.

The tonic chord on all four instruments

Bm7, x 2 0 2 0 2Bm7123×BDABF#
Guitar
Bm7, x 2 0 2 0 2Bm7123×BDABF#
Electric guitar
Bm7, 4 4 3 7Bm732314F#BDA
Cavaquinho
Bm7, 2 2 2 2Bm71111ADF#B
Ukulele

In Chord & Fret, open the Circle of Fifths, pick B minor and hear every degree — triads and sevenths, with fretboard positions and the key's secondary dominants. Open in Chord & Fret →

Neighbouring keys

Relative: D major← E minorF# minor →

See every harmonic field →