Bm piano chord, B minor notes and fingering.

The Bm piano chord is B minor: the notes B, D and F# played together. It is a root (B), a minor third (D, three semitones above the root) and a perfect fifth (F#, seven semitones above). Chord charts write it as Bm or Bmin.

How to play Bm on piano

1. Find B on the keyboard. B is the white key just right of the group of three black keys, the last white key before C.
2. With your right hand, put finger 1 on B, finger 3 on D and finger 5 on F#. Finger 1 is the thumb.
3. Press all three keys together. In root position they run from B3 to F#4, a reach of 7 semitones. Play chord sounds them together and Arpeggio sounds them one by one, from the bottom up.
4. Click Left hand to see the left hand. It plays B2 to F#3, one octave lower: B with finger 5, D with finger 3, F# with finger 1.
5. The cards under the keyboard hold the three positions, with B, D and F# at the bottom in turn. Play and Arpeggio on a card play that position.
6. Open Note names. As written the keys read B, D and F#. Sharps shows B, D and F#, and Flats shows B, D and Gb. This chord is written with sharps, so As written and Sharps match.

How Bm is built

Counted from the root, the formula is 0, 3, 7. Stacked on each other the gaps are 3 + 4: a minor third (B to D) with a major third (D to F#) on top. A minor triad is a major triad with the third moved down one semitone. B major and B minor share B and F#, and only the middle note differs: D# against D.

Worked example: the pitch of B3. On a piano tuned to A4 = 440 Hz, a note 10 semitones below A4 has the frequency 440 × 2^(-10/12), which is about 246.94 Hz. D4 is 7 semitones below A4, so 440 × 2^(-7/12) gives about 293.66 Hz.

What the keys look like under your hand

B has a black key on its left (Bb) and none on its right, because B and C are only a semitone apart. One of the three notes is a black key (F#) and two are white keys (B and D). Your little finger plays F#, a black key with F and G beside it. The little finger is short, so let the hand lean a little toward its edge and aim for the middle of the key.

Bm inversions and fingering

Bm has three positions. In root position B is at the bottom. In the first inversion, D is at the bottom and the chord is written Bm/D. In the second inversion, F# is at the bottom and the chord is written Bm/F#. The tightest reach, 7 semitones from the lowest key to the highest, is the root position. The widest, at 9, is the first inversion.

The keys that hold Bm

Bm fits six of the major and natural minor keys that have a standard key signature, which means every note of it comes from that key's scale. The simplest is G major, with 1 sharp, where it is chord iii.

Progressions that use Bm, with the chord numbers and the chords in that key:

• G major: I-iii-IV-V, which is G, Bm, C, D, a climb from the tonic to the dominant.
• E minor: i-iv-v-i, which is Em, Am, Bm, Em, the minor-key cadence.
• D major: I-V-vi-IV, which is D, A, Bm, G, the four-chord loop heard in a great deal of pop.

Here is a worked example in G major. The chord before Bm in the first progression above is G (G, B and D). From G in root position, the closest way to reach Bm is its second inversion (F#, B and D, lowest note first): two notes stay where they are, and the others move 1 semitone in total, counting each note against the note in the same place from the bottom.

What Bm sounds like

Minor chords sound darker and more serious than major ones, and they carry the mood of many songs. They are not only for sad music, though: in a major key the ii, iii and vi chords are all minor, so a bright song uses them too.

Bm is the iii chord in G major, the v chord in E minor and the vi chord in D major.

A common mistake with Bm

A common mistake is pressing D# instead of D, one semitone higher than the third of Bm. That turns the chord into B major (B, D# and F#). If your Bm sounds too bright, check the middle finger first.

Bm, bm, B minor and Bbm

People type this chord many ways: Bm, bm, B minor, Bmin. They all mean the same chord: B, D and F#. The one to watch is Bbm with a small b, which is B-flat minor (Bb, Db, F); a different chord that sits one semitone lower.

On a piano Bm is one of the friendlier minor chords. It is two white keys and one black key (B and D are white, F# is black), and the hand does not need a stretch because the notes are only a third and a fifth apart. Players who know the chord from guitar will notice there is no barre on a piano: you press three keys, and that is all.

Bm is a good chord to practise next to its neighbours in the key of D major. D major (D, F#, A) shares the notes D and F# with Bm, and G major (G, B, D) shares B and D. Moving between them while keeping the shared notes still is a quick way to train smooth chord changes.

Chords to learn next

Chords close to Bm: B major (same root, with a major third; shares B and F#); Bm7 (adds a minor seventh; contains all its notes); Bdim (lowers the fifth; shares B and D); D major (its relative major; shares D and F#).

Once Bm feels easy, play it and then B major to hear what one note changes. For chords beyond these six types, and for guitar and ukulele shapes, use the chord finder. To play along with your computer keys, open the virtual piano. The piano chords page lists all 72 chords.