B major consists of B, D-sharp and F-sharp. The chord has a white-key root and two black-key chord tones.
B major consists of B, D-sharp and F-sharp. The chord has a white-key root and two black-key chord tones. The displayed root-position example is B4–D♯5–F♯5. Numbers after note letters identify octaves, not fingers. Use the diagram, note list and bass label together; Play chord sounds the selected notes together, while the note-by-note control sounds them from low to high.
Read both sharp signs. Using D natural changes the third and produces B minor when F-sharp stays fixed. Using F natural changes the fifth as well. The symbol B is not an instruction to use only white keys. From B, the major third is D-sharp and the perfect fifth is F-sharp. Their distances are four and seven semitones above the root. In B/D♯, D-sharp becomes the bass, but it does not replace B as the root.
Read each bass note before selecting a position. The root-position example starts with B; first inversion starts with D♯; second inversion starts with F♯. The chord tones stay the same. These are independently chosen reference registers, not an ascending exercise. Switching a position must update the selected note order, diagram, sound and current-print snapshot together. Hand numbers, when available, apply only to the root example.
| Position | Symbol | Notes, low to high | Bass |
|---|---|---|---|
| Root position, current selection | B | B4–D♯5–F♯5 | B4 |
| First inversion | B/D♯ | D♯4–F♯4–B4 | D♯4 |
| Second inversion | B/F♯ | F♯4–B4–D♯5 | F♯4 |
These are separate one-hand starting examples for the root-position voicing. Change to an inversion and the finger numbers are intentionally withheld.
Separate right-hand example for the displayed root-position voicing B4–D♯5–F♯5. The source supplies these chord-tone and hand-number pairings, not this octave placement. This is a starting example, not a universal rule; no fingering is assigned to the inversions.
Music Theory for the 21st-Century Classroom / University of Puget Sound
Supports: Triad construction, major/minor intervals.
Scope: General rule; exact PianoGrid registers, diagrams, exercises and explanations are original applications.
Open Music Theory
Supports: Chord quality, chord members, inversion and lead-sheet conventions.
Scope: Not a source for our hand-specific fingerings or recordings.
Open Music Theory
Supports: Written note letters and octave numbering.
Scope: Cb4 = MIDI 59 is a derived application of the notation rule, not a quotation of a PianoGrid example.
Skoove
Supports: Root-position B–D♯–F♯; right hand 1–3–5 and left hand 5–3–1.
Scope: The root-position hand numbers are shown by the source. It does not specify PianoGrid’s B4–D♯5–F♯5 register. We do not adopt song lists, mood labels or inversion fingerings.
Common names: B, B major, Bmaj.
Intervals from the root: perfect unison, major third, perfect fifth.
On an equal-tempered piano, B–D♯–F♯ and C♭–E♭–G♭ can use the same keys when their registers match. The spellings serve different written contexts and are kept separate in this reference.
B3–D♯4–F♯4 matches C♭4–E♭4–G♭4. The root example higher on this page starts at B4, so it is an octave above that C-flat example; do not compare unequal registers and call their sounding pitches identical.
B major is the V chord in E major. That tells you its function in that key; it does not change its note spelling.
For an exact shared-tone comparison, write B3–D♯4–F♯4 followed by B3–E4–G♯4. The second voicing is E/B. B remains in the bass, so the comparison is not two root-position shapes.
Name the three chord tones before looking back at the answer. Then name the bass of the first inversion. These are written self-checks, not additional scored modes.
No. B is a white key, while D-sharp and F-sharp are black keys.
B major uses D-sharp; B minor uses D natural. Both use B and F-sharp.
B major with F-sharp as the lowest note: second inversion.
The original reference uses B4 for root position but lower examples for the inversions. Bass membership determines inversion, not whether the next diagram moves upward.
They can be enharmonic on a piano, but the spelling communicates the written harmonic context. This reference preserves the requested chord spelling.
Select the three pitch classes that make B major, then check your answer.
This keyboard checks an unordered pitch-class set. Order, octave, fingering and live piano performance are not assessed.
One octave, C through B. Select a key again to remove it.
Chord tones: B–D♯–F♯ · Formula: 1, 3, 5
Dots mark the notes to play. C4 is middle C. Numbers identify octaves, not fingers.