Key of B Practice Tracks

This page is for Practice Tracks with a Tonal Center of B. There are three sections below: first for Major, the second for Minor, and a third for Blues-based tracks which are flexible enough to use either or both. Above each video are the vital statistics for the track - what you need to know in order to play along with/over it. For tips and ideas for using these, please see the general introductory page /practice-tracks.

Practice Tracks in B Major

Title & Comments: Tanpura. This is a melodic Tonal Center used in Carnatic music. In western terms it uses the Root and the 5th of a Key (aka. tonal center). Is it Major? Is it Minor? Neither! which means we can practice using either one. Cool huh?  
Author: CarnatiCalifornia 
Meter & Tempo: n/a (there is a Carnatic rhythm structure here, but it does not translate to a simple time signature. Just play along!)  
Key: B any  
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: any B major or minor. Or simply the open strings of the guitar or uke.     
Chord: B any

 

 

Title & Comments: Pop track. Yeah, I'm getting zero country vibe from this. Nice groove. It stays on B, the I chord for a full 8 bars, which gives you plenty of time to experiment on that chord before they run through several others.
Author: The Dino Dog 1.
Meter & Tempo: 4/4 about 100bpm 
Key: B Major 
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: B major. B pentatonic major.
Chords: B  C#m  D#m  E  F#

 

 

Title & Comments: U2 style. Yep, in fact it's based on With or Without You, though they key was changed from the original D major to B major. On that topic: you may notice that this video says, in big letters "Ab Minor". This is wrong. The reason: the key signature of B major has 5 sharps, one of those is G#. G# minor is in fact the Relative Minor Key of B major. Now G# and Ab are the same pitch, however the context of the key means specifically that G# is to be used here. Period.
Author: Tom Bailey Backing Tracks. 
Meter & Tempo: 4/4 about 120bpm 
Key: B Major 
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: B major. B pentatonic major.
Chords: B  E  F#  G#m

Practice Tracks in B Minor

Title & Comments: More Pink Floyd! Cause we all need that. 12 bar blues very much in their style.
Author: Quist.
Meter & Tempo: 12/8 (think 4/4 but with triplets. Aka. swing) about 40bpm. This is Really Slow. If it's hard to find and keep the beat, you can triple it: 120bpm, and set your metronome for 3/4. It works.
Key: B Minor 
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: Bminor. B pentatonic minor. 
Chords: Bm  Em  F#m  F#

 

 

 

Title & Comments: The Thrill Is Gone. Ohhellnoitisn't! By the great B.B. King, I never get tired of this tune. It is a 12 bar blues yes, but in bar 9 you get the bVI chord - G major - and that makes all the difference!
Author: Roy Hawkins & Rick Darnell, as performed by B.B. King. Video by Tony Janflone Jr. . . . whom I have to plug: most youtube stuff has electronically made rhythm instruments. This is a live group. a really good one.
Meter & Tempo: 4/4 about 88bpm.
Key: B Minor 
Scales, Pitch vocabulary: B minor. B pentatonic minor. 
Chords: Bm  Em  F#m G

Practice Tracks in B with a flexible modality