Gm7 guitar chord
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Gm7 — open string voicings
Gm7 is G, Bb, D and F — Gm with the flat seventh added.
It sounds smooth and unhurried. The ii of every major key, so most progressions you already know begin on one of these.
Gm7 notes and formula
| G | Bb | D | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 | ♭7 |
Pre-dominant — the ii of a major key, and a tonic in its own right.
Also written Gmin7, G-7 or G minor 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gm7
An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. It costs no finger, so it can sound a note the closed shape has none left for: a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath.
These belong to their key rather than to a shape: they cannot be moved up the neck. D, A, G and E have many; E♭ has a handful.
Gm7 has 6 of them, on strings 6-4-3-2-1, strings 5-4-3-2-1, the top four strings and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 3rd fret up to the 6th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass, Bb in the bass and D in the bass. The one to learn first is the D shape at the 6th fret, which is the easiest grip here.
Start with xx5766 — no barre and low, at the 5th fret. None of the shapes for Gm7 uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 3rd fret. 2 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 3rd fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 353333 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | barred |
| xx5766 | 5th fret | G, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| x-10-8-10-8-x | 8th fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| x-10-8-10-11-x | 8th fret | G, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| x-10-12-10-11-10 | 10th fret | G, root position | D | barred |
| x-x-12-12-11-13 | 11th fret | D, 2nd inversion | F | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 7 shell, 15 drop 2 and 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Gm7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (A), the 11 (C) and the 13 (E).
How to use Gm7
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gm7 is Am7♭5 to D7♭9: the ii and the V of G minor, which is where a minor tonic is usually arrived at rather than simply begun on.
In which keys. Every note of Gm7 belongs to C minor (the v), D minor (the iv), Eb major (the iii), F major (the ii), G minor (the i) and Bb major (the vi).
What to play over Gm7
Every note of Gm7 is in G minor pentatonic, G blues, G dorian, G natural minor and G phrygian.
Chords near Gm7
Change one note of Gm7 and you have Gm (drop the flat seventh), Gm6 (the flat seventh becomes a sixth), Gm7b5 (the fifth becomes a flat fifth), Gm9 (add the ninth), GmMaj7 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh) or Gmadd9 (the flat seventh becomes a ninth).
Gm7 is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Gm7’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.