Piano chord · Minor triad
B minor piano chord (Bm)
B, D and F♯, played together. Root position is highlighted on the keyboard below — press play to hear it.
Notes in Bm: B, D and F♯
| Note | Interval from the root | Key around middle C |
|---|---|---|
| B | Root | B4 · white key |
| D | Minor 3rd | D5 · white key |
| F♯ | Perfect 5th | F♯5 · black key |
- Chord symbol: Bm — B minor
- Formula: R · b3 · 5 (0 · 3 · 7 semitones from the root)
- Right hand fingering: 1-3-5 — thumb, middle finger and little finger
- Left hand fingering: 5-3-1, little finger on the root
How Bm works
B minor is white–white–black and the relative minor of D major. Guitarists dread it; pianists barely notice it. That contrast makes the keyboard the fastest place to learn how the chord is actually built.
Bm inversions
An inversion keeps the same notes and changes which one is at the bottom. That matters because it lets you move between chords without jumping: the closer the notes of the next chord are to the ones your hand is already holding, the smoother it sounds and the easier it is to play. Root position first, then two inversions.
Root position
B–D–F♯ — the root, B, is at the bottom.
1st inversion — D in the bass
D–F♯–B — the same three notes, reordered so D is lowest.
2nd inversion — F♯ in the bass
F♯–B–D — the same three notes, reordered so F♯ is lowest.
Common mistakes on Bm
- Leaving D♯ in place from B major.
- Reaching F♯ with a straight finger, so the key is caught at its edge.
- Confusing it with D major; both contain D and F♯, but B minor is rooted on B.
Piano chord data last updated . Every diagram here, in the printable PDF and in the chart image comes from one dataset, so the paper and the screen cannot disagree.