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B♭ minor

B♭ minor has 5 flats (B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭). Its scale is B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭, its chords are B♭m, Cdim, D♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭ and A♭, and its relative major is D♭ major.

Make a beat in B♭ minorWrite a melody in this key

Opens the free editor with a trap beat on B♭m G♭ D♭ A♭. No account needed to start.

The B♭ minor scale

Whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole: the half steps come between C and D♭, and between F and G♭.

B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A♭ B♭

CFB♭D♭E♭G♭A♭B♭

On the piano, B♭ minor uses 5 black keys (B♭, D♭, E♭, G♭ and A♭) and 2 white keys (C and F).

The notes of B♭ minor by scale degree
DegreeNoteName
1B♭Tonic
2CSupertonic
3D♭Mediant
4E♭Subdominant
5FDominant
6G♭Submediant
7A♭Subtonic

The raised seventh

Many songs in B♭ minor raise A♭ to A. That makes the harmonic minor scale, B♭ C D♭ E♭ F G♭ A, and turns the fifth chord from Fm into F major, which pulls hard back to B♭m. The editor’s minor progressions play the fifth chord that way.

Chords in B♭ minor

One chord on each note of the scale, built from the scale’s own notes. The Roman numeral says which note it starts on: capitals are major, small letters minor.

iB♭m
ii°Cdim
IIID♭
ivE♭m
vFm
VIG♭
VIIA♭

Which chords sound happy or sad

Dark

B♭m E♭m Fm

i, iv, v. The minor chords. B♭m is home, and the key’s sad colour.

Lifting

D♭ G♭ A♭

III, VI, VII. The major chords, which bring light into a minor song.

Tense

Cdim

ii°. Diminished: tense and unstable, so most minor songs use it only in passing.

A progression in B♭ minor

The epic minor · i–VI–III–VII
B♭m
G♭
D♭
A♭
Hear it as

More progressions in B♭ minor

Key signature and related keys

Key signature

5 flats: B♭ E♭ A♭ D♭ G♭

Written at the start of every line of music, so each B, E, A, D and G is played flat. Sharps join in the order F C G D A E B, and flats in the order B E A D G C F.

Relative major

D♭ major

The same seven notes and key signature, starting on D♭.

Parallel major

B♭ major

The same home note, with 2 flats. Borrowing a chord from it makes a part sound brighter.

Next to it on the circle of fifths

Keys next to each other share six of their seven notes. See them all on the circle of fifths.

B♭ minor in beats

None of the editor’s genre starters is written in B♭ minor, so the beat above plays its chords over lo-fi, pop, trap, house or drill drums. Set the editor’s project key to B♭ minor and the chords and parts you add next follow it.

Questions about B♭ minor

How many flats are in B♭ minor?

Five: B♭, E♭, A♭, D♭ and G♭. Those notes are played flat every time, so the key signature has 5 flats, and D♭ major, its relative major, has the same.

What is the relative major of B♭ minor?

D♭ major. It uses the same seven notes and the same key signature as B♭ minor, but starts on D♭, the third note of the scale. The two share every chord, which is why songs move between them so easily.

What chords are in B♭ minor?

B♭m, Cdim, D♭, E♭m, Fm, G♭ and A♭: one built on each note of the scale (i, ii°, III, iv, v, VI, VII). Many songs play the fifth chord as F major instead of Fm: its A pulls hard back to B♭m.

What is a common chord progression in B♭ minor?

i–VI–III–VII: B♭m, G♭, D♭ and A♭. It is the minor key’s best-known loop, heard in anthems, EDM and film, and it is the one the beat on this page plays.

Every key

Major keys
C majorG majorD majorA majorE majorB majorF♯ majorD♭ majorA♭ majorE♭ majorB♭ majorF major
Minor keys
A minorE minorB minorF♯ minorC♯ minorG♯ minorD♯ minorB♭ minorF minorC minorG minorD minor

Build a song in B♭ minor

Start with the beat, then add chords, a melody and your voice in the editor, part by part.

Make a beat in B♭ minorAll music keys

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