G minor

About G minor

G minor is built on the notes G – A – B♭ – C – D – E♭ – F. It has 2♭ in the signature (B♭, E♭), so every note of its scale is either a white key or one of those sharps or flats; nothing else is needed. The first note is the home note: melodies in G minor tend to come back to it, and the music feels finished when they do.

The home chord is Gm and the main chords are Gm, Cm and D. Note that D is major: minor keys usually borrow the raised seventh note (F♯) from the harmonic minor scale, so that the fifth chord pulls strongly back to the tonic. Its seventh-chord form is D7.

Its relative key is B flat major: the same notes and the same signature, starting from B♭. Many pieces move between the two, and the chords of one are the chords of the other in a different order. The parallel key, G major, starts on the same note but has a different signature.

On the circle of fifths, G minor sits between C minor and D minor, and inside its relative major. Melodies in a minor key often use both the natural and the raised seventh note (F♯), so you will see both versions of the V chord in real music.

On guitar, G minor needs several barre chords. A capo helps: put it on fret 3 and play the shapes Em, G, Am, Bm, C, D, and you sound in G minor with mostly open chords.

To get to know the key, play the scale slowly, then the chords in order from I to vii, saying the Roman numerals aloud. Then try the progressions above with the play button and play along at a steady tempo.