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Tomus

Key reference

The key of B♭ major

2 flats · B♭ – C – D – E♭ – F – G – A

B♭ major has 2 flats: B♭, E♭. A piece in this key draws on B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G, A and treats B♭ as home.

The seven chords below are the ones built from those notes alone, which is why they sound like they belong together.

The key signature

𝄞♭♭
The key signature of B♭ major: B, E.

Order of flats

  1. B♭
  2. E♭
  3. A♭
  4. D♭
  5. G♭
  6. C♭
  7. F♭

This signature uses the first 2 of them: B♭, E♭.

The notes of the key

These are the notes of the major scale on this tonic. See the B♭ major scale for the degrees and step pattern.

B♭ – C – D – E♭ – F – G – A

The seven diatonic chords

Build a triad on each degree using only notes from the key and the qualities fall into a fixed pattern. That pattern is the same in every major key, which is why progressions transpose so cleanly.

DegreeRomanChordNotesFunction
1IB♭B♭ – D – FTonic
2iiCmC – E♭ – GPredominant
3iiiDmD – F – ATonic
4IVE♭E♭ – G – B♭Predominant
5VFF – A – CDominant
6viGmG – B♭ – DTonic
7vii°AdimA – C – E♭Dominant

Adding sevenths

Stack one more third on each and you get the seventh chords of the key.

RomanChordNotes
IB♭maj7B♭ – D – F – A
iiCm7C – E♭ – G – B♭
iiiDm7D – F – A – C
IVE♭maj7E♭ – G – B♭ – D
V7F7F – A – C – E♭
viGm7G – B♭ – D – F
vii°Am7♭5A – C – E♭ – G

Common progressions in B♭ major

These are the same shapes you meet in every major key, written with this key’s chords.

I – V – vi – IV

  1. B♭ITonic
  2. FVDominant
  3. GmviTonic
  4. E♭IVPredominant

I – vi – IV – V

  1. B♭ITonic
  2. GmviTonic
  3. E♭IVPredominant
  4. FVDominant

ii – V – I

  1. CmiiPredominant
  2. FVDominant
  3. B♭ITonic

Related keys

RelationshipKeySignature
Relative minorG minorSame signature
Parallel minorB♭ minor5 flats
One step sharpwardsF majorOne more sharp
One step flatwardsE♭ majorOne more flat
Neighbouring keys on the circle of fifths share six of their seven notes.

Related

All major keys