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B Chord Chart for Guitar

The B chord opens here as x24442, the A major shape barred at the second fret: the index finger lies flat across five strings while the ring finger bars three more at the fourth. It is the shape beginners get stuck on, and the reason is in the notes. B major is B, D# and F#, and of those only B falls under an open string, so nothing rings for free and one finger has to do the work the nut does in E or A. Two easier shapes sit on the chart beside it: B7 at x21202, which is four fingers and no barre at all, and B easy at x2444x, the same barre shape with the top string dropped so the index presses one string instead of five. Each diagram names the notes it sounds, worked out from the open strings rather than copied from a list, so you can see exactly what each shortcut leaves out.

13xEADGBE

B major · x24442
notes B F# B D# F#
lowest note B on string 5
moveable shape, frets 2 to 4, 5 strings sounding, 1 muted

Chord
B major
Fingering
x24442
Notes
B F# B D# F#
Tuning
Show

The A shape barred at the second fret: the index bars five strings, the ring finger bars three more at the fourth.

  • A majorthree fingers in one fret box
    x02220
  • B majorthe barre most beginners meet first
    x24442
  • E minortwo fingers, the easiest full chord there is
    022000
How to read the diagram. The six vertical lines are the strings, sixth (thickest) on the left, and the heavy line across the top is the nut. A number in a dot is the finger that presses there: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little. A bar drawn across several strings is one finger lying flat over all of them. Above the nut, o means play that string open and x means do not play it at all. The letters under the diagram are the open strings of the tuning, which is why they change when you switch to drop D. Notes are named with sharps throughout, so the third of B major reads D# rather than Eb.

Common questions

How do you play a B chord on the guitar?
The full shape is x24442, read from the sixth string: do not play the sixth string, then the fifth at the second fret, the fourth, third and second at the fourth fret, and the first at the second fret. In practice that is one barre with the index finger across the second fret and a second, shorter bar with the ring finger across the fourth, which is what the diagram draws as two bars rather than five separate dots. The notes that come out are B F# B D# F#, the root twice, the fifth twice and the third once, which is why it sounds full despite only five strings sounding.
What is the easiest way to play B?
B7, written x21202, is the shape most players reach for. It uses four fingers and no barre anywhere, it sits in the first three frets where the strings are easiest to press, and it stands in for B in a great many songs because the extra note it adds, an A, is one that usually wants to move to the next chord anyway. If the song needs a plain B rather than a seventh, use the shape labelled B easy on the chart, x2444x: it is the barre shape with the outside strings left out, so the index presses only the fifth string at the second fret and the ring finger bars the three strings at the fourth. It sounds thinner because the top F# is missing, and it is a real B major.
Why does my B chord buzz or sound dead?
Almost always the barre. The index finger has to hold five strings down at the second fret, and a finger is not flat: the joints leave gaps, which is where the buzz comes from. Three things help, in this order. Roll the index slightly onto its side, the bony edge nearer the thumb, so a straighter surface meets the strings. Put it as close to the second fret wire as it will go without sitting on top of it, because a string needs far less pressure there. And put the thumb behind the neck, roughly opposite the middle finger, rather than hooked over the top, so the hand squeezes rather than pulls. If it still buzzes, play the B easy shape on the chart while the hand builds up, rather than practising a chord that never sounds.
Is B7 the same chord as B?
No. B major is three notes, B, D# and F#. B7 adds a fourth, A, which is what the 7 in the name means, and the diagram here shows it: x21202 sounds B D# A B F#. That A gives the chord a pull towards E, which is why B7 sits so naturally in songs in E and why swapping it in usually sounds right rather than wrong. In a song that is not heading for E, or where the melody sits on a note the added A rubs against, the plain shape is the one to play. Both are on this chart, so you can hear the difference rather than take anyone's word for it.
What notes are in a B chord, and where are they in the shape?
B major is B, D# and F#. In x24442 the fifth string at the second fret gives B, the fourth at the fourth gives F#, the third at the fourth gives B again, the second at the fourth gives D#, and the first at the second gives F#. The chart works those names out from the open strings rather than storing them, which is why they change when you switch the tuning: in drop D the sixth string is a D, though this shape mutes it, so B reads the same in both.
What about B minor?
B minor is on the chart as x24432, the same barre at the second fret with one note moved: the second string comes down from the fourth fret to the third, which turns D# into D and turns the chord minor. It is the A minor shape barred at the second fret, in the same way B major is the A shape. Everything said above about the barre applies to it, and there is no equivalent of B7 that avoids the barre entirely. What players do instead is play the top four strings of the same shape, leaving the index pressing one string rather than barring five, in the same way the B easy shape works.

Every diagram is a named fingering with its own frets, fingers and muted strings, and the note names under it are computed from standard tuning. It cannot know your tuning or the reach of your hand, and a chord has more than one shape: these are the common ones, not the only ones.