Minor chord · G root
Gm chord
- G1
- Bb♭3
- D5
The G minor chord is built from the notes G, Bb, D. It turns up 2 times in the 104 songs on this site, including Hey Jude.
By Chiye · Updated
What is the Gm chord?
The Gm chord (G minor) is a minor chord built from three notes: G, Bb, D — the 1–♭3–5 of the G scale, 3 semitones and 7 semitones above the root. On guitar it is most often played as a movable shape from fret 3 (3-5-5-3-3-3); shift all fretted notes together to transpose it along the neck. It is rated intermediate. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord. Across the 104 song sheets in this site's library, Gm appears 2 times in 1 song, most often in the key of F, and the chord it most often moves to is C7. Below you will find step-by-step fingering, 3 positions up the neck, audio of every shape, and the real progressions this chord lives inside.
How do you play the Gm chord on guitar?
Fret 3 barre — a movable shape, so this same fingering works for every root note.
- Lay your index finger flat across the low E to high E strings at fret 3, rolled slightly onto its bony edge.
- Press the A string at fret 5 with your ring finger.
- Press the D string at fret 5 with your pinky finger.
- Strum all six strings and let every one ring.
Leave out the lowest fretted note (low E string) and practise the remaining strings. The bass changes, and the upper strings may still need a smaller barre; check that the third and other colour tones stay clear. x-5-5-3-3-3
How do you make Gm sound clean?
The 3rd-fret barre on Gm gets played with the index flat and the hand rotated the wrong way, deadening the G string.
Loop Gm, Bb and Eb, the i–III–VI of G minor. Compare the diagrams first: Gm uses an E-shape while the Bb and Eb shown here use A-shapes.
In real songs
What songs use the Gm chord?
- chord changes
- 2
- songs
- 1
- common keys
- F
Across the 104 chord sheets on this site, Gm appears 2 times in 1 song — most often in the key of F.
F7A#GmC7F
Chord flow
What chord comes after Gm?
Every number here is a count from the progressions in our song sheets, not a generalisation: 1879 chord changes are behind these figures.
Three-chord moves
Three-chord moves are where a chord really shows its character. These are the ones that actually happen in this library, counted from the sheets:
What other ways can you play Gm up the neck?
2 more positions below. Learn one of these well and the rest become optional. The value of a second position is practical: it keeps your fretting hand near where the song is already heading.
Position 2 · Fret 5
Because nothing rings open, you can move this whole shape to any fret and it keeps the same quality — only the letter name changes.
At fret 5 the neck is still wide enough to keep your thumb behind it, which gives the fingers more reach than a thumb-over grip.
Position 3 · Fret 10 barre
No open strings, so this is a movable shape: slide it up or down and the same fingering gives you a different chord name.
One bar does most of the work. Roll that finger onto its bony edge and pull the elbow slightly in — a barre that buzzes is almost always a position problem, not a strength problem.
The theory behind Gm
Gm is spelled G – Bb – D — the 1 – ♭3 – 5 of the G scale, which is the root plus 3 semitones, 7 semitones. The darker, moodier counterpart of the major chord.
The flattened third is what makes it minor, so if Gm sounds wrong the third is almost always the note being muted — check the string carrying it before you change anything else.
What key is the Gm chord in?
Gm is the i chord in G minor, the ii chord in F major and the vi chord in Bb major — the three keys where Gm appears naturally.
the home chord of the minor key
the gentle predominant — often before the V
the relative minor — the major key’s shadow
Gm on other instruments
G – Bb – D — the highlighted black keys are the sharps or flats; play each note once, then move them into one hand position.
Take it to the practice room
