1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.
B♭7 (also written A♯7) is a dominant seventh chord made of 4 notes: B♭, D, F, A♭. It sounds restless; it wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below, and you hear it in blues, rock and roll, and the V chord that pulls a song back home. It is the V chord of E♭ major and turns up in 2 other keys.
The library above opens on B♭7 with 14 shapes up and down the neck, starting with hand-checked ones. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.
| Note | Degree | Interval from B♭ | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| B♭ | 1 | root | 0 |
| D | 3 | major third | 4 |
| F | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| A♭ | ♭7 | minor seventh | 10 |
Formula: 1 – 3 – 5 – ♭7. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, A♯7 is A♯, C𝄪, E♯, G♯: the same sounds under different names.
x13131686766x1013xxxx334656xxxxx879xEvery full shape of B♭7 needs a barre or a stretch. The easiest trick is a capo on the 1st fret: then play the open A7 shape (x02020) and it sounds as B♭7. In many songs you can also swap in B♭maj7, B♭sus2, B♭sus4, which share most of its notes and need no barre. If you want the real thing, the a-shape barre at fret 1 shape is the gentlest start.
B♭7 belongs to 3 keys: V in E♭ major, VII in C minor, V7 in E♭ minor. In E♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: E♭ – B♭7 – Cm – A♭.
B♭, D, F, A♭: the root, major third, fifth, minor seventh.
A-shape barre at fret 1: x13131 (low string first), rated Medium. Or use a capo on the 1st fret and play an open A7 shape.
B♭7 has A♭ where B♭maj7 has A. B♭7 sounds restless; it wants to move on, usually to the chord a fifth below; B♭maj7 sounds dreamy, warm and a little wistful.
It needs a barre in every shape, so it takes some practice. Start with the a-shape barre at fret 1 shape, rated Medium.