B Chord

[ibanez_boy_1335]

What does a B Chord look like?
I've looked all over, and nobody seems to have it. If they do, they give some stupid formation. i want just the basic way to play it.

Thanks.

[cyberfret]

The reason that you have not seen it, is because there is not basic open position B chord. You will need to use a barre chord. Probably the "stupid formation" that you are referring to :)

Check out this page for some more info on how to play a B chord.
http://www.cyberfret.com/q-and-a/7/index.htm

--Shawn

[Coffee]

Admin is right. There is no easy open b chord. Better to get a book on barre and/or moveable chords now and get to work. This will save you the grief of looking for 'easy' fingerings in the future and your playing will get a huge boost. I'd really recommend "Mel Bay's Guitar Chords" book. ISBN is 0871660903. If you don't know what an ISBN is just ask at a book store. It cost me $8 Canadian. Most of the book is just ordinary but the last few pages, 'Modern Rhythm Chords' will leave you with a greater knowledge of chords that 99 percent of guitarists.

From there I moved on to Howard Roberts Guitar compendium which has an awesome section on chords in Volume 1. The Howard Roberts books are quite expensive (I paid $100 for the three volume set) but there is a lifetime of learning in them and it is extremely well laid out. Good luck.

[blackbird]

Really? No B chord? Wierd, because I've got something in my notebook under the heading of "B major chord" that looks something like this...

E:---2---
B:---4---
G:---4---
D:---0---
A:---X---
E:---X---

I don't remember from where I copied that.... It was a while ago. So what's the chord really called? (excuse any mistakes in tabbing format... I'm still new at this :p)

[cyberfret]

The problem with this chord is the open 4th string. A B chord has the notes B, D#, and F#. The open 4th string is D....so this chord will sound pretty bad.

Not B

E:---2---
B:---4---
G:---4---
D:---0---
A:---X---
E:---X---


Now a Bb chord is Bb, D and F. So if you move everything down 1 fret and play the open 4th string, this is an easy Bb chord

Bb chord

E:---1---
B:---3---
G:---3---
D:---0---
A:---X---
E:---X---

--Shawn

[Coffee]

If you're really stuck, blackbirds suggestion might be okay for the time being if you dropped string 4 and played only strings 1 through 3. There is a weakness here though. This would leave the chord without a third which gives it it's major or minor quality. Also unless the other chord voicings your using are high notes, it probably will not satisfy your ear.

:)

[tpcsk8infosatan]

Open b major doesn't exist, so you're wasting your time. If you want a different sound though, just play different strings from a b major barre chord (e.g. the top or bottom 4 strings), or just play an arpeggio of the b major chord. PROBLEM SOLVED.

[steve]

accually this would be a F major chord.

e-1
b-1
g-2
d-3
a-x
E-x

so this would be a B major chord

e-7
b-7
g-8
d-9
a-x
E-x

[tpcsk8infosatan]

once again, though, that B major chord is just the top 4 strings of a B major barre chord. OPEN B MAJOR DOES NOT EXIST!