My friend plays Bb way too much

sometimes its fun to break the rules ;)

Chalmodo

He's just tossing in chords from the parallel minor. Nothing really wrong with it.

If you're playing in G, the Bb is the bIII of Gm.
If you're playing in D, the Bb is the bVI of Dm.

Oh... and
But my friend plays it in songs I know don't have it.  For "All My Lovin" by the Beatles he opes with Dm, G7, C, Am, F, Dm, Bb, G.  Okay, that could be the key of F but no way can there be a G or G7.  It would have to be Gm or Gm7.

He can get away with a G or G7 because it leads into the C (by being a secondary dominant). In fact, I'd say that's in the key of C, with the Bb (bVII) pulled from Cm. It really depends on the rest of the song though.

Just because Bb does not naturally occur in the key of C or the key of G does not mean you can't use it in a song in those keys.

It is fairly common to see a Bb chord in a song that's in C. It's called a b7 (flat seven) chord. In the key of G the Bb would be a b3 (flat three) chord. Not uncommon in rock music.

Especially in songs that have a rock or bluesy feel, the melody will include the "blue notes" ,i.e. flat thirds and flat sevens. These 2 chords are based on those "Blue" notes.

 www.guitarforsongwriters.com

By the way,"All My Loving" definitely DOES have a flat7 chord in it. In the key of C , it's Bb.

        http://www.guitarforsongwriters.com

I use Bb in the key of Amaj as a sub. for the V7. In a II-V-I  progression in Amaj the substitution creates a nice decending bassline.

From Bm-E7-Amaj
TO  Bm-Bbm7-Amaj

Even thought Bb is not diatonic it can be used to make a smooth transition. i think its sounds good and it can improve dry progressions.
does anyone else do it this way?

I use Bb in the key of Amaj as a sub. for the V7. In a II-V-I  progression in Amaj the substitution creates a nice decending bassline.

From Bm-E7-Amaj
TO  Bm-Bbm7-Amaj

Even thought Bb is not diatonic it can be used to make a smooth transition. i think its sounds good and it can improve dry progressions.
does anyone else do it this way?

That's similar to the "tritone substitution", a standard jazz trick, but the would sub Bb7 for E7 (both contain the G#-D tritone).  

It's done for the same reason, to get a descending bassline.

I see that Bb occurs only in the key of F, Eb and Bb.

Bb is not just in those keys its in..

(one flat to many flats..)

F
Bb
Eb
Ab
Db
Gb
(harmonic equivilant, A#)
B

.....

i personally like the modes that revolve around the F major scale (that the Bb brings).

Bb is not just in those keys its in..

(one flat to many flats..)

F
Bb
Eb
Ab
Db
Gb
(harmonic equivilant, A#)
B

.....

i personally like the modes that revolve around the F major scale (that the Bb brings).

I see you are talking about single notes in those keys.  Single notes can't differentiate major, minor, aug, or dim.  He and I play chords almost exclusively as opposed to single notes.  So if we look at it that way, there is no Bb in these keys:

Ab/G# has a Bbm
Db/C# has a Bbm
Gb/A# has a B
B has a B

So I still see it that a pure Bb chord is only played in 3 of the 12 keys and two of those keys are seldom played in rock music.  F seems to be the "popular" key that contains a Bb chord.

for some reason after i looked at my wall i saw the F major scale with a Bb note and when i came back i was still thinking of the NOTE Bb and thats when i saw your post and went a bit mad.

well people can have their own keys/ chords they like

when i play, the VAST majority of chords i play (because i like so much) is E minor and A minor.

to each his own i guess.

It is funny how everyone likes different things.  When I'm just messin' around I don't play minor chords often.  Why?  I like the sound of happy chords.  The minor chords sound so sad.  Em is my most often played minor.  I'll go from Em-Am-Dm and toss in a Bm here and there.  Certainly I'll play minor chords when a song dictates it.  Many songs I play have minor chords.  Makes sense.  The ii, iii, and vi are all minors.

It is so weird how I'm drawn to the key of A.  It must be the easiest key.  My second favorite is the key of D.  Out of seven notes, those two have four in common.

:)

Gb/A# has a B

Gb - Gb Ab Bb Cb Db Eb F

Technically your B is a Cb. He was referring to the notes, rather than the chords.

So I still see it that a pure Bb chord is only played in 3 of the 12 keys and two of those keys are seldom played in rock music.  F seems to be the "popular" key that contains a Bb chord.

Any major triad is only present in 3 of the 12 keys. This basically gives you 6 keys to work with if you play with the parallel minor too. In C, you have C F and G, with the added option of Eb Ab and Bb pulled from C minor.

If you ever hear a D major when playing in the key of E, chances are that's where it comes from.

I wrote a nifty progression that alternates between major and minor (just about). Any tempo/meter, but it sounds best with the roots on the A string (start at fret 10 and work your way down to fret 5).

Gmaj7-Gm7-F#m7-Fmaj7-Em7-Ebmaj7-Dmaj7

It's all in D, with a few chords (Gm7 and Fmaj7) borrowed from Dm. Don't worry about the Ebmaj7, that's just side-slipping into the I.

It is so weird how I'm drawn to the key of A.  It must be the easiest key.  My second favorite is the key of D.  Out of seven notes, those two have four in common.

More, 6 out of 7.  D is D_E_F#G_A_B_C#.
A is A_B_C#D_E_F#_G#.  The only difference is G in D and G# in A.

A is moderately easy in open chords, i.e. the I, IV and V (or V7) (A,D,E or E7) are all fairly easy open chords, but the ii, iii and vi all require barres.  D as well (D,G,A), but also has an easy open ii (Em).

A is a very popular key for rock bands that play mostly in barre chords (about 50% of my band's songs are in A).  

A is in the middle of the neck, so you can go both up and down in pitch and your arm is in a comfortable position.  It's a good pitch for most male singers.

More, 6 out of 7.  D is D_E_F#G_A_B_C#.
A is A_B_C#D_E_F#_G#.  The only difference is G in D and G# in A.

I think he meant the chords again.

They both share A, D, Bm and F#m.

Ahh, of course.