Bass · seventh
B7 Chord on Bass
B Dominant 7th is B, D#, F#, A — the 1-3-5-b7 pattern of a seventh chord. Here is the shape, the audio, and what usually goes wrong.
There is no open B7 on bass — the single shape below is a barre, which is exactly why this chord trips people up. Take it slowly and check every string.
Start here — Root-3-5-b7 Shape (7th fret)
Barre at fret 7 — the same movable idea, further up the neck: brighter, more compact, and easier to reach if you are already playing up there.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Root-3-5-b7 Shape (7th fret) — barred at fret 7.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
B7 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on bass.
B7 on Bass — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play B7 on bass?
“Root-3-5-b7 Shape (7th fret)” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest B7 shape on bass. Barre at fret 7 — the same movable idea, further up the neck: brighter, more compact, and easier to reach if you are already playing up there. There is no open B7 on bass, so a barre is unavoidable; this is the least demanding one.
What notes are in the B Dominant 7th chord?
B Dominant 7th is B, D#, F#, A — the 1-3-5-b7 interval pattern of a seventh chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
What can I play instead of B7?
The nearest stand-ins on bass that keep the same root are Bsus4, Bsus2, B. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play B7 on other instruments?
Yes. B7 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, ukulele, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind B7
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.