Bb Ionian
The Bb Ionian mode (also written A#) — Bb C D Eb F G A — shown across the guitar neck.
Also written A# Ionian. A# and Bb are the same pitch, though spelling it from A# would need double accidentals (A# B# C## D# E# F## G##), which is why Bb is the name in use.
Tap any note on the neck.
Swipe the neck sideways to see the higher frets.
Bb Ionian is the major scale — same seven notes, same order. The mode name describes which chord you treat as home, not a different set of notes.
What is Bb Ionian?
Bb Ionian is the seven notes Bb C D Eb F G A — the notes of Bb major started from its 1st degree, Bb. Same seven notes as the parent, but with Bb as home, so the intervals and the sound are different.
Bb Ionian vs Bb major
They are the same seven notes in the same order. “Ionian” is the mode name for the major scale — it says which chord you treat as home, not that any note changed.
Chords in Bb Ionian
Stack the mode in thirds and each degree becomes a chord. The home chord is Bb; the rest are the chords of Bb major, since the notes are the same — what changes is which one the music rests on. Vamp between Bb and Eb and the mode is unmistakable.
Bb Ionian on the guitar neck
Because Bb Ionian is Bb major from its 1st note, its natural fingering is position 1 of the seven three-notes-per-string shapes of Bb major — the shape whose lowest note is Bb. Learn that shape with Bb as home — start and end on it, over a drone on Bb or the vamp above — and you have the mode under your fingers. The other six positions are the fingerings for the other six modes of the same key.
How to practice Bb Ionian on guitar
- Loop position 1 of Bb major at 60 BPM, starting and ending on Bb so your ear hears Bb as home rather than Bb.
- Hold a Bb chord (or record one) and play the shape over it. Listen for the chord tones landing on the beat.
- Hear it harmonized in 3rds on the Fretboard: press Play and every note sounds with its partner while the neck lights up.
Ionian is the major scale: the tool draws Bb Ionian, the same notes as Bb major.
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