How to Play the B-flat Major Scale on the Piano - Scales, Chords & Exercises

What Are the Notes of the B-flat Major Scale?

The B-flat Major scale starts on Bb and includes two flats: Bb and Eb. It uses the notes Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb. On the piano, you need to play two black keys: Bb, and Eb. For all of the other notes, you can use the white keys. B-flat Major's "enharmonic twin" is A-sharp-Major, which is hardly used.

How to Play the B-flat Major Scale With the Right Hand (Treble Clef)

On the piano, you can play the B-flat Major scale going up (toward the higher notes), or coming down. The fingering is almost, but not quite, the same as the Eb Major fingering.

• Play the following notes going up in the treble clef: Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb. Start playing with your 2nd finger (the index finger) on the Bb. Play the C with your 1st finger, and the D with the 2nd again. After playing the Eb with the 3rd finger, tuck your thumb to reach the F, then continue up using the full hand. Play the higher Bb with your 4th finger. If you want to play more than one octave, start the whole scale on your 4th finger instead of your 2nd, to continue with ease.
• Play the following notes going down: Bb-A-G-F-Eb-D-C-Bb. Go down inversing the exact way you have played coming up: Start playing with your 4th finger. After the thumb has played the F, tuck your 3rd finger over the thumb to play the Eb, and continue until your first finger reaches the C, then tuck your 2nd finger over to play the Bb.

How to Play the B-flat Major Scale With the Left Hand (Bass Clef)

Piano beginners may find it difficult to read and play the left hand. It is worth investing some time to really familiarize yourself with the notes of the B-flat-Major scale in the bass clef, and learn how to read them in music scores.

The notes are the same in both clefs, treble, and bass, Bb-C-D-Eb-F-G-A-Bb, but they look different:

And this is how you play B-flat in the left hand:

• Going up: Start with the third finger on the Bb, then use the second and first finger to reach the C, and D, respectively. Tuck your fourth finger over to reach the Eb, then play up until you reach the A with your first finger. Finally, tuck your third finger over to end on Bb.
• Coming down: Simply reverse what you've just done - start out on Bb with your third finger, tuck your thumb under to play the A, then play down until your fourth finger reaches the Eb. Tuck again to reach the D with your thumb, and finish with your third finger on Bb.

The B-flat Major Key Signature

The key signature, located at the beginning of each line of a piece, lets you see which notes will be raised (#) or lowered (b) consistently throughout that piece.

If you spot this key signature below it is very likely that the piece is in B-flat-Major (or its parallel minor scale, G-minor):

6 Exercises to Practice the B-flat Major Scale

Play one B-flat-Major exercise after the other and only move on after having correctly played the previous exercise 5 times on your piano:

1. Play the left hand up and down using a metronome and slowly increasing speed
2. Play the right hand up and down using a metronome and slowly increasing speed
3. Play both hands up and down using a metronome and slowly increasing speed - this one is NOT easy, so take your time!
4. Play the left hand up starting from the lowest Bb to the highest, and down starting from the highest Bb to the lowest
5. Play the right hand up starting from the lowest Bb to the highest, and down starting from the highest Bb to the lowest
6. Play both hands up starting with the left hand on the lowest Bb and stopping when the right hand reaches the highest Bb, then play down to the starting position

Why you should exercise scales in general:

• To memorize a scale
• To practice dexterity and intonation (play all keys with even loudness. Beginners often play the notes they work with their stronger fingers much harder. Aim for an even tone)
• To be able to play the scale in time without hesitating to find your fingerings
• To be able to build chords and improvise

B-flat Major Chords on the Piano

A Major chord is constructed of three or more notes: The root note - the major third - the perfect fifth.

Briefly explained, this tells us about B-flat Major:

• The basic B-flat Major chord consists of Bb-D-F.
• The first inversion is D-F-Bb.
• The second inversion is F-Bb-D.

To practice the B-flat Major chord and inversions, switch from the chord starting with the root note to the first, and the second inversion, starting slowly using a metronome, then increasing your tempo.