Master the B 7 Chord for Guitar with Real-time Feedback

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The B7 chord is B dominant seventh, built from B, D#, F# and A. Count the intervals up from the root: a major third, a perfect fifth and a minor seventh.

There are 18 voicings on this page; seven use open strings and eight are barre shapes. In E major B7 is the V7 chord, and it leads back to E. The distances between the notes are easier to see with intervals on the fretboard, while the B Mixolydian scale holds all four of them.

Switch on the note labels in the player at the top to see which finger sits on the root and which on the A.

B dominant 7th guitar chord is also written as B7, Bdom7 or Bdom.

B 7 chord Notes:

B D# F# A

Chord structure of the Dominant Seventh chord:

Formula: 1 3 5 b7

B 7 Guitar Chord Diagrams

Position 1 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 2 of the high E string

Position 2 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A, G and high E strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 4 of the B string

Position 3 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the low E, D and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 9 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 10 of the B string

Position 4 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 4 of the D, G and B strings at the same time
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the high E string

Position 5 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the low E, D, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 9 of the A string

Position 6 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the A and G strings at the same time

Position 7 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 13 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 14 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 14 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 14 of the high E string

Position 8 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 12 of the B string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 13 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 14 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 14 of the G string

Position 9 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 4 of the D, G and B strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the high E string

Position 10 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the low E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 7 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 7 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 8 of the G string

Position 11 Barre Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the D, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the G string

Position 12 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the G string

Position 13 Open

Finger Positions

Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the low E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 2 of the high E string

Position 14 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the low E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the G string

Position 15 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the B string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 2 of the high E string

Position 16 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 1 of the D string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the low E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 2 of the G string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 2 of the high E string

Position 17 Barre Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the A string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 4 of the D, G and B strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the high E string

Position 18 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the low E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 7 of the D string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 8 of the G string

Find more shapes in our all guitar chords online library. If you prefer a printable pdf, download the Free Guitar Chords Chart Pdf

Play This Chord With Other Roots

C 7 | D 7 | E 7 | F 7 | G 7 | A 7 | B 7 | C#7 | D#7 | F#7 | G#7 | A#7 | Ab7 | Bb7 | Db7 | Eb7 | Gb7

Want to Learn Everything About Chords?

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In the ebook you can also find maps show you the tones in a chord all along the fretboard. They are incredibly helpful because allow you to:

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Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher

FAQ

What are the notes of B dominant seventh?

B7 is B, D#, F# and A. The A is the minor seventh, a whole step under the octave B, which adds dominant tension to the B major triad.

Which key has B7 as V7?

E major. B is the fifth degree of E major, and A is its fourth degree, so B7 resolves comfortably to E.

How many B7 voicings are there?

There are 18 voicings between fret 1 and fret 14. Seven of them use open strings and eight are barre voicings.

Which scale fits the B7 chord?

B Mixolydian is B, C#, D#, E, F#, G# and A. It holds every note of the chord, so it is a natural scale to try over B7.

What is the difference between B7 and a plain B major chord?

A B major triad is B, D# and F#. B7 adds A, the minor seventh, which makes the chord sound unresolved and eager to move on.