Table of Contents
How to Play B7 on Ukulele
Introduction
Isn’t it attention-grabbing that we are able to play the B7 chord in plenty of alternative ways on the ukulele? It reeks of magic. Give it some thought for a second, all these chord shapes have nearly nothing in common, and so they nonetheless characterize the identical chord. If not using a well-trained ear, you may mistake the sound of one shape for another.
So, let’s hop on this roller coaster of music theory. Here’s why you possibly can play the B7 chord in numerous methods without making it sound completely different.
Every chord has a scale that describes that chord. To be able to “talk” with this chord, it’s essential to know this scale. Let’s take a more in-depth look at the scale for B7: B (root), C#, D# (third), E, F# (fifth), G#, A (seventh).
To make the chord spicier to the sound, we add the seventh—the seventh note of the scale. The skeleton now consists of 4 notes: B (root), D# (third), F# (fifth), and A (seventh)—keep in mind this order by the way. These are the very same notes that you just play on a piano, ukulele, or guitar. It’s good to learn all the ways to play this chord on various instruments – to have creative freedom when facing it.
Play B7 on Ukulele: How to Play It
B7 is one other barre chord that suggests your index finger has some work to do! Begin by inserting it over all of the strings of the second fret, leaving a small portion of the top hanging over. The aim is to make use of your index to press all of the strings down at once, chances are you’ll have to make little changes till all of them sound correct.
After you’re certain you haven’t any useless strings use your middle finger to play the third fret of the C string. Maintain that top middle finger joint straight up to keep away from touching different strings.
Let’s check out in-depth how the root position and some variations are played.
B7 Ukulele Chord: Root Position
For the root position of this chord, you will be able to play it with a barre chord and one other finger placed on a different string and fret than the index finger. Let’s see the spots exactly:
- Use your index finger to press all the strings on the 2nd fret.
- Use your middle finger to press the C string on the 3rd fret.
You can play this chord with the index finger on the 2nd fret of the G string and with the middle finger pressing the 2nd fret on E and A strings, but this is much easier to master and produce the chord correctly.
B7 Ukulele Chord: 1st Inversion
The second inversion of this beautiful chord is also a version that requires a little bit of basic knowledge of chord pressings. We already explained this natural way of placing the fingers, but this time we will do the same for the chord we have at hand – B7.
- Use your Index finger to press the E string on the 2nd fret.
- Use your middle finger to press the C string on the 3rd fret.
- Use your ring finger to press the G string on the 4th fret.
As you can notice, the order is pretty easy and the chord will be played without any muting or disturbances. We believe that with a little bit of practice you will be able to play this variation as well as the root one. For this variable, you will need to leave the A string to ring freely.
B7 Ukulele Chord: 2nd Inversion
The second inversion that we are going to explain is one that probably will be easy for you as well. This one requires pressing 3 strings and leave one to ring open. Here is how you will need to place your fingers:
- Use your Index finger to press the C string on the 6th fret.
- Use your middle finger to press the E string on the 7th fret.
- Use your ring finger to press the G string on the 8th fret.
As mentioned, this time the A string will need to ring open and no press should be done to it.
B7 Ukulele Chord: 3rd Inversion
For the third and final inversion in this guide, we will stick to an easy one where you will not need to break your fingers to press it. Here you will need to play a partial barre chord, where you will be pressing only three strings with your index finger. The tricky part is that you will need to leave the A string out of the chord to ring open, meaning that you will need to take care not to mute it when barring the chord. Here is how to do it:
- Use your Index finger to press the G, C, and E string on the 11th fret.
Should be easy enough once you learn how to press these strings and not interact with the A string. Pretty easy!
How to Play B7 Chord on Piano
To form the chord, B7, mix the root, main third, perfect fifth, and flat seventh of the B major scale. The notes of the B major scale are B – C# – D# – E – F# – G# – A#. Utilizing the 7 chord formulation, 1 – 3 – 5- 7b, the notes utilized in B7 is B – D# – F# – A. Be aware that the seventh note of the scale is lowered by a semitone. So as an alternative to playing A#, note A is performed.
There may be numerous tension in a dominant seventh chord. While you play the chord, B7 the chord “needs” to maneuver to a different chord which is an ideal fourth above it. This chord is E because E is an ideal fourth above B. Playing E after playing B7 will not be a must however it’s the purest and certain chord to play after.
Notes B – D# – F# – A.
Famous Songs that use the B7 Ukulele Chord
“A Dustland Fairytale” is a tune by American rock band The Killers, launched as the fourth single from the band’s third album, Day & Age. The Killers carried out the music live on Late Night with David Letterman accompanied by an orchestra in 2009.
The tune’s lyrics focus upon frontman Brandon Flowers’ mother and father, referring to “Cinderella” (his mom) and a “slick chrome American prince” (his father)
Killers frontman Brandon Flowers wrote this tune whereas his mom, Jean, was battling cancer. The lyrics are very abstract, however, they tell the story of how his mom and father met after they have been both 15 and living in the same trailer park.
“It was an attempt to better perceive my dad, who is usually a mystery to me,” Flowers posted on his social media accounts. “To grieve for my mom. To acknowledge their sacrifices and possibly even catch a glimpse of simply how strong love must be to make it into this world. It was my remedy. It was cathartic.”
Conclusion
Here we are concluding one more article on another chord that might be useful to know. The B7 is used here and there and it’s not found that often, but in case you need to know it, you will always be able to refer back to this article and double-check how to play it.
The better option than coming back is to learn this chord permanently and know it for good. Again we delivered several options for this chord that you will be able to use and we hope that you will learn some of them. Until next time!
