G Major guitar chord
Three notes across one string set.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About G — triad voicings
G is G, B and D.
It sounds plain and completely at rest. The reference every other chord on this page is a modification of.
G notes and formula
| G | B | D |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | 5 |
Tonic — the chord a progression stops on.
Also written Gmaj, GM or G major. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play G
Three notes on one string set. No seventh, so nothing is claimed about the chord beyond its quality.
Thin on their own, excellent over a bass line or against someone else’s harmony.
G has 47 of them, on the bottom three strings, the low-middle three, the bottom four strings, the middle four strings, the high-middle three, the top three strings, the top four strings, strings 5-3-2-1 and strings 6-4-3-2, from the 2nd fret up to the 99th — every inversion the chord has: G in the bass, B in the bass and D in the bass. The one to learn first is the G shape at the 2nd fret, which is the easiest grip here.
6 of them sit on the bottom four strings, so you can run the inversions up one set without changing strings — which is the whole reason to learn them as a family rather than as separate grips.
Start with 320003 — no barre and 3 open strings. 1 of the 7 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 7 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 320003 | open position | G, root position | G | 3 open strings |
| 355433 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | barred |
| xx5787 | 5th fret | G, root position | B | all fretted |
| x-10-9-7-8-7 | 7th fret | G, root position | B | all fretted |
| x-10-12-12-12-10 | 10th fret | G, root position | D | barred |
| 15-14-12-12-12-15 | 12th fret | G, root position | G | barred |
| x-x-12-12-12-15 | 12th fret | D, 2nd inversion | G | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 6 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use G
How you get to it. The turn that lands on G is Am7 to D7 — the ii and the V of G — and D7 shares its third and seventh with Am7, so the hand barely moves between them.
In which keys. Every note of G belongs to C major (the V), D major (the IV), E minor (the ♭III), G major (the I), A minor (the ♭VII) and B minor (the ♭VI).
What to play over G
Every note of G is in G major pentatonic, G major, G lydian, G mixolydian and G lydian dominant.
Chords near G
Change one note of G and you have Gm (the major third becomes a minor third), Gsus2 (the major third becomes a ninth), Gsus4 (the major third becomes a fourth), Gmaj7 (add the major seventh), Gadd9 (add the ninth) or G5 (drop the major third).
G is a major chord — root, major third, fifth. Major chords on every root.
On G’s sound and use this page follows Edward Aldwell & Carl Schachter, Harmony and Voice Leading (Schirmer / Cengage, 4th ed., 2011). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.