Piano scales · Minor

B♭ minor scale on piano

The B♭ minor scale (also called A♯ minor) has seven notes and 5 flats. Here it is on the keyboard, with the fingering, the chords in the key and a button to hear it.

The notes

B♭, C, D♭, E♭, F, G♭, A♭, and back to B♭.

Every minor scale follows the same pattern of steps: whole – half – whole – whole – half – whole – whole. A whole step skips one key; a half step goes to the very next key, black or white.

Key signature

B♭ minor has 5 flats: B♭, D♭, E♭, G♭, A♭. Music in B♭ minor shows these at the start of every line.

Its relative major is D♭ major: the same notes, starting from D♭. See every key on the circle of fifths, and all the key signatures.

Fingering

The rule for every scale: keep your thumb off the black keys, and pass it under after the group of black keys, so your fingers 2–3 or 2–3–4 cover them. Find a fingering that follows that rule, write it on your music, and use the same one every time.

Chords in B♭ minor

Build a chord on each note of the scale, using only the scale's notes, and you get the seven chords of the key:

How to practise it

• Hands separately first, slowly, with a metronome. Evenness matters more than speed: every note the same length and the same weight.
• Watch the thumb: it should pass under smoothly, without the hand jumping.
• When it's even at a slow speed, go up a few clicks. Then hands together, an octave apart.

Keep learning