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The B7 chord

Hear the B7 and you hear restless, leaning forward, courtesy of the dominant seventh spelling (B - D# - F# - A). Players use it to land a hard cadence, which is why it turns up across blues, jazz and any song that needs a strong pull to the next chord. The V of E, which means it pulls hard back to the open Em or E that follows it. Common voicings on guitar and piano, the theory in plain language, the progressions where the chord earns its place, and a list of real song references are all in the sections that follow.

Hear the B7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for B7

Common ways to grip the B7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for B7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: E7 shape at fr.7

Notes: B - D# - F# - A (chord tones)

Guitar: A7 shape at fr.2

Notes: B - D# - F# - A (chord tones)

Guitar: D7 shape at fr.9

Notes: B - D# - F# - A (chord tones)

Guitar: C7 shape at fr.11

Notes: B - D# - F# - A (chord tones)

Guitar: G7 shape at fr.4

Notes: B - D# - F# - A (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note voicings on three adjacent strings. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: middle-string triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Triad: bass-side triad

Notes: 3-note voicing on adjacent strings

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position

Notes: B - D# - F# - A. Root B at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a dominant seventh.

Piano: first inversion

Notes: D# - F# - A - B. D# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.

Piano: second inversion

Notes: F# - A - B - D#. F# at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.

Piano: third inversion

Notes: A - B - D# - F#. A at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind B7

The B7 chord (B - D# - F# - A) is a dominant seventh. Its intervals are root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. Functionally it lives at home in a closely related major key as the passing chord, but you'll also find it in a closely related major key as the passing chord. The chord tends to resolve down a fifth to the next chord, which is why it shows up in blues and gospel.

Progressions that use B7

Short progressions that put the B7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

I→IV→V key of C major

B7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many major-key progressions.

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Songs that feature B7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Stand By Me by Ben E. King. B7 as the V chord that pulls back to E.
Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes. B7 in the vintage turnaround.
Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. B7 as a transition chord.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the B7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

TriadB m7Bm7 NeighbourF#m NeighbourF#7 NeighbourE NeighbourEm NeighbourE7

Keys where B7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

C major A minor

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the B7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the B7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.