G Minor guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Gm — root position
Gm is G, Bb and D — G with the third lowered a semitone.
It sounds darker than a major triad, and just as settled. The i of a minor key, and the vi, ii or iii of a major one.
Gm notes and formula
| G | Bb | D |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | 5 |
Tonic — minor chords rest as readily as major ones.
Also written Gmin, G- or G minor. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gm
Gm in root position puts G in the bass, which is the chord as it is spelled: the note it is named after underneath everything else.
7 of Gm’s 9 common shapes do this: 310033, 355333, xx5333, xx5786, x-10-8-7-8-x, x-10-12-12-11-10, 15-13-12-12-x-15.
Start with xx5786 — no barre and low, at the 5th fret. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. 3 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 15th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 310033 | open position | G, root position | G | barred |
| 355333 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | barred |
| xx5333 | 3rd fret | G, root position | G | barred |
| xx5786 | 5th fret | G, root position | Bb | all fretted |
| xx8786 | 6th fret | Bb, 1st inversion | Bb | all fretted |
| x-10-8-7-8-x | 7th fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
| x-10-12-12-11-10 | 10th fret | G, root position | D | all fretted |
| x-13-12-12-11-x | 11th fret | Bb, 1st inversion | Bb | all fretted |
| 15-13-12-12-x-15 | 12th fret | G, root position | G | all fretted |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 48 triad and 3 open string voicings, each on its own page.
How to use Gm
How you get to it. The turn that lands on Gm 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 Gm 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 Gm
Every note of Gm is in G minor pentatonic, G blues, G dorian, G natural minor and G phrygian.
Chords near Gm
Change one note of Gm and you have G (the minor third becomes a major third), Gdim (the fifth becomes a flat fifth), Gsus2 (the minor third becomes a ninth), Gsus4 (the minor third becomes a fourth), Gm6 (add the sixth) or Gm7 (add the flat seventh).
Gm is a minor chord — root, minor third, fifth. Minor chords on every root.
On Gm’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.