B♭m(maj7)

B♭1D♭♭3F5A7

Minor triad, major seventh — the tonic chord of harmonic minor.

Written the other way round it is A♯m(maj7) — the same twelve keys on a piano, a different piece of notation.

on guitar on piano the scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

3110

open

Fig. 3

3554

moderate

Fig. 4

xa9c

easy · no 5

What is true of it

B♭m(maj7) is B♭, D♭, F and A — 1, b3, 5 and 7 counted from B♭.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 4, the 5 goes first, in that order.

The easiest of the 3 fingerings below is 3110: 3 fingers, held at the 1st fret.

1 of them use open strings, which is what makes a shape quiet to change to.

Where its notes are on the neck

Fig. 5 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are B♭, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

B♭m(maj7)/D♭

6968

second inversion

B♭m(maj7)/F

aa9c

third inversion

B♭m(maj7)/A

2111

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

B♭ in other shapes

B♭7dominant seventh B♭maj7major seventh B♭m7minor seventh B♭major B♭mminor B♭dimdiminished

Cm(maj7)C♯m(maj7)D♭m(maj7)Dm(maj7)D♯m(maj7)E♭m(maj7)Em(maj7)Fm(maj7)all 374