B Dorian scale on guitar
B Dorian has 7 notes: B C♯ D E F♯ G♯ A. Degrees: 1 2 ♭3 4 5 6 ♭7. Formula: W H W W W H W.
What notes are in the B Dorian scale?
B, C♯, D, E, F♯, G♯ and A. It has 7 notes; its formula in whole and half steps is W H W W W H W.
What does B Dorian sound like, and when do you use it?
Minor with light: the major 6th gives it the air of soul, funk and modal jazz. Use it over m7 · the ii of a major key, and minor vamps.
To hear it: So What — Miles Davis (D Dorian) and Oye cómo va — Tito Puente / Santana.
Chords in B Dorian
| Degree | Triad | Seventh chord |
|---|---|---|
| i | Bm | Bm7 |
| ii | C♯m | C♯m7 |
| ♭III | D | Dmaj7 |
| IV | E | E7 |
| v | F♯m | F♯m7 |
| vi° | G♯° | G♯m7♭5 |
| ♭VII | A | Amaj7 |
Chord progressions to improvise with B Dorian
In Jam mode (the Jam button above) a band of grand piano, upright bass and drums (recorded instruments) plays these progressions as swing, bossa, groove or ballad, and the fretboard lights up the notes of each chord as it plays. It's a backing track made for this scale in B:
- Dorian vamp (i7–IV7): Bm7 | E7. The “Oye cómo va” vamp: the IV7 has the major 6th (G♯), the note that makes Dorian sound Dorian.
- Modal (i7): a Bm7 vamp. A single chord, like in “So What”, voiced in fourths. Explore the whole scale, no rush.
- i–ii (i7–ii7): Bm7 | C♯m7. The scale split into two chords: the second brings the C♯, the E and the G♯.
B Dorian positions on guitar
In standard tuning (E A D G B E), with 3 notes per string, B Dorian is played in 7 positions along the neck:
- Position 1: frets 7 to 12 (starts on the root)
- Position 2: frets 9 to 14
- Position 3: frets 10 to 16
- Position 4: frets 0 to 5
- Position 5: frets 2 to 7
- Position 6: frets 4 to 9
- Position 7: frets 5 to 10
Same notes as
A major · F♯ natural minor · A Ionian · C♯ Phrygian · D Lydian · E Mixolydian · F♯ Aeolian · G♯ Locrian