A# Dominant 7th
6th FretE-shape barre chord at fret 6. Barre all six strings at fret 6 with the index; ring on A fret 8, middle on G fret 7. The standard A#7 voicing with the root on the low E string.
A# Dominant 7th
1st FretA-shape barre chord rooted on A# at the 1st fret. Barre fret 1 with the index; ring on D fret 3, pinky on B fret 3. Mute the low E. The lowest-position A-shape dominant 7th voicing on guitar.
A# Dominant 7th
4th PositionDrop 2 voicing on the top four strings — root (A#) on D fret 8, 3rd (D) on G fret 7, 5th (F) on B fret 6, ♭7th (G#) on high e fret 4. A compact jazz comping shape.
A# Dominant 7th
10th PositionCompact shell voicing on the inner four strings — 3rd (D) on D fret 12, ♭7th (G#) on G fret 13, root (A#) on B fret 11, 3rd (D) on high e fret 10. No barre — captures the tritone tension of A#7 cleanly.
A# Dominant 7th
8th FretD7-shape moveable voicing — the open D7 chord slid up eight frets. D string fret 8 (root), G fret 10 (5th), B fret 9 (♭7th), high e fret 10 (3rd). No barre required.
Tips for Playing the A#7 Chord
A#7 and B♭7 are the same chord
A#7 and B♭7 are enharmonic equivalents — identical chord shapes with two names. B♭7 is far more common in written music. When you see B♭7 in a jazz chart, use the same E-shape barre at fret 6.
Try the 1st-fret A-shape barre
The A-shape barre at fret 1 is the lowest-position dominant 7th barre on the guitar — just one fret up from the nut. The stretch is manageable and gives a full voicing with the root on the A string.
A#7 resolves to D#
The A#7 (B♭7) → D# (E♭) progression is one of the strongest V→I moves in jazz and R&B. Practise moving from the E-shape barre at fret 6 to a D# chord to hear the tritone resolution.
B♭ blues is a jazz staple
B♭7 → E♭7 → F7 is the core 12-bar blues in B♭ — one of the most common jazz blues keys. Many jazz standards are written in B♭ specifically for brass instruments, making B♭7 essential vocabulary.
Move the barre shapes
The E-shape barre at fret 6 and the A-shape barre at fret 1 are both moveable dominant 7th shapes. The E-shape slides freely across all 12 keys — one fret down for A7, one fret up for B7.
Drop 2 for chord melody
The Drop 2 voicing (x-x-8-7-6-4) sits comfortably in the 4th–8th fret range and is a useful shape for jazz chord melody in the key of B♭.
About the A#7 Chord on Guitar
The A#7 chord is built from four notes: A# (the root), D (the major 3rd), F (the perfect 5th), and G# (the minor 7th). It is the A# major triad with an added flat 7th, creating the characteristic tritone tension between D and G# that defines dominant 7th chords. Because no standard open-string A#7 voicing exists in standard tuning, every shape requires all fretted notes — but the A-shape barre at fret 1 offers the lowest-position voicing on the guitar. A#7 is enharmonically identical to B♭7, the far more common spelling in written music. B♭7 resolves naturally to E♭ major, a key central to jazz, R&B, and brass writing. The 12-bar blues in B♭ (B♭7 → E♭7 → F7) is one of the most-played progressions in jazz. This page covers five voicings, from the standard E-shape barre at fret 6 to a Drop 2 voicing and a shell shape at the 10th position. Every diagram is interactive and playable with real acoustic guitar sound.
- 015 A#7 or B♭7 chord shapes from intermediate to advanced
- 02Interactive diagrams — click Play to hear each chord
- 03Real acoustic guitar sound via audio engine
- 04E-shape barre, A-shape barre, Drop 2, shell voicing, and D7-shape moveable form
- 05Difficulty rating on every shape
- 06Free — no sign-up or download needed
ANATOMY
Chord Tones
The 4 notes that form the A# or B♭ Dominant 7th chord and their role in the major scale.
Every dominant 7th chord follows this same formula — root, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh.