The G Minor Scale

The notes of G minor are G, A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F — formula 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7. Key signature: two flats (Bb, Eb). Its relative major is Bb major, which uses the same notes from a different home. Below: the full neck, the chords in the key, and the pentatonic that lives inside it.

G minor on the fretboard

EADGBe357912FGABbCDEbABbCDEbFGADEbFGABbCDGABbCDEbFGCDEbFGABbFGABbCDEb
G minor scale — every note on the neck, frets 0–12 — root notes in green.
Jamistry's interactive 3D fretboard — the scale lit up across the whole neck

Practice G minor position by position — interactive fretboard →

Chords in the key of G minor

Harmonising the scale gives the seven chords songs in G minor are built from:

Degreeiii°bIIIivvbVIbVII
ChordGmAdimBbCmDmEbF

The core minor progression is i–iv–v (Gm, Cm, Dm); songs wanting a stronger pull home borrow a major V (D) from the harmonic minor.

The G minor pentatonic shortcut

For soloing in G minor, most players reach first for the minor pentatonic — the same scale minus the two most clash-prone notes. G minor pentatonic: G, Bb, C, D, F.

EADGBe35GBbCDFGBbCDFGBb
G minor pentatonic — position 1

Jam in G minor

Scales stick when you use them over music. Open JamLab — its key stepper transposes any minor-mode track into G minor without changing tempo.

More scales & theory

All guitar scalesMinor pentatonicMajor pentatonicBlues scaleMajor scaleMinor scalesThe 7 modesCAGED systemFretboard notesThe minor scales