B Minor

Symbols:Bm, Bmin, B-
Scale Degree Formula:1-♭3-5
Interval Stack:m3 + M3
Notes:B, D, F#
Hear this chord:▸ Guitar
Inversions:Bm/D, Bm/F#

Construction

Using the scale degree formula, we first start with the B major scale, and number each note in the scale starting from 1 - these are the scale degrees. Next, we use the scale degree formula, in this case 1-♭3-5, to select notes from our enumerated scale. When a chord requires notes that are not in the scale, this is indicated with a flat (♭) or a sharp (#) along with the scale degree; a ♭3, for instance, would be one half-step down from the 3rd scale degree.
Alternatively, we can use the interval stack to construct our chord. With this approach, we first start with the lowest note of the chord (B), then move our first interval (m3), which brings us to our second note in the chord (D). We repeatedly apply each of the remaining intervals in the stack to get the full list of notes for our chord.
The diagram below shows how both the scale degree formula and interval stack methods result in the same selection of notes:
B1C♭2C#2D♭3D#3E4F♭5F#5m3M3

Similar Chords

The following chords are similar to this chord and may be a suitable replacement in certain scenarios.

Chord TypeChords
7th Suspended SecondE7sus2
AugmentedF#aug, Daug, Bbaug
DiminishedG#dim, Bdim
Half-Diminished 7thG#m7(b5)
MajorG, D, B
Major 6thDM6
Major 7thGM7
Minor 2ndBm2
Minor 6thBm6
Minor 7thBm7
Minor Added 11thBmadd11
Minor Added 9thBmadd9
Minor Major 7thBmM7
PowerchordB5
Suspended FourthF#sus, Bsus
Suspended SecondEsus2, Bsus2

Associated Scales

This chord can be found in the following scales.

ScaleRoots
BluesG#, B
Blues MajorA
Blues MinorF#
DorianA, E, B
Dorian b5A, G#
Harmonic MajorG, F#
Harmonic MinorF#, D#, B
Ionian #5A, F#, D
LocrianG#, F#, C#
Locrian bb7F#, F
Locrian ♮6G#, F, C#
LydianG, D, C
Lydian #9G, D, B
Lydian Augmented #2D#, D
Lydian b3C, B
MajorA, G, D
Major PentatonicD
MinorF#, E, B
Minor PentatonicB
MixolydianA, E, D
Mixolydian b2D, C#
PhrygianF#, C#, B
Phrygian DominantBb, F#, C#
Phrygian b4Bb, B
Super-Locrian bb7Bb, F, D
SuspendedE
Ukrainian DorianG#, E, B

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