Open Guitar Chord Shapes: Why the B String Is Different

Did you know that open chords share the same shapes?

E major to A major

Here is E major.

Now watch what happens when we move the whole shape one string above, toward the thinner strings.

It becomes A major.

Every finger stays on the same positions of the previous, except when they crossed from G to the B string they went up one fret

Why is the B string tuned differently?

This happens because the B string is the one string tuned differently from the others. Every other string is tuned five semitones above the one before it. The B is tuned only four.

The guitar string notes page walks through all six strings and that 5, 5, 5, 4, 5 pattern step by step.

A major to D major

Let’s move this shape one more time. Watch all finger positions maintain their frets except when they cross from G to B.

It becomes D major.

G major to C major

Now let’s start with the G chord. Same adjustment from G to B

It becomes C major.

C major to F major

One more…

F major.

Now you know why the B string is tuned differently: because if every string were five semitones apart, many chords would get harder to play

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Watch the short

Watch this lesson on YouTube.