Looking at the beginning of the piece, we see a B♭, which means that the tonic of that chord is a B♭. The letters you see represent the root or tonic (the first note of any major or minor scale) of the chord being built. Let’s look at the following song, “ Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. These letters (with and without accidentals) represent all of the notes on the staff. Each of these letters may also be accompanied by a sharp (♯) or flat (♭). The uppercase letters you will see in chord symbols are C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. The first thing to understand in chord symbols is the letters. Most sheet music contains notated melodies with chord symbols written above them, and we’re here to give you a rundown of what these symbols mean and how to use them. These symbols consist of letters, numbers, or symbols that indicate the root (or tonic) on which the chord should be built, as well the quality (major, minor, etc.) of the chord. Chord symbols in music can be confusing, simply because there are a lot of them.

B flat major symbol