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G Major is definitely one of the most common key signatures on the guitar, especially its relative minor, E Minor.
The guitar chords of G Major are G Major, A Minor, B Minor, C Major (C7), D Major, E Minor, F# Diminished. It’s also important to note that the 5th chord is the dominant C7, and the F#m7b5 is a popular chord in this case.
All 7 Notes of G Major
Before we do anything, you need to know the notes of G Major as well, which are G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#.
The Scale Degrees of G Major
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7
Whole Tone – Whole Tone – Semi Tone – Whole Tone – Whole Tone – Whole Tone – Semi Tone
G, A, B, C, D, E, and F#.
What makes a chord?
You need a root, third, and a fifth to make a standard chord in Western harmony.
A major chord, such as G major, consists of a root (G), a major third (G to B), and a perfect fifth (G to D).
A Major 3rd Interval is a distance of 4 semi-tones (or 4 frets).
A Minor Chord, such as A Minor, consists of a root (A), a Minor 3rd (A to C), and a Perfect 5th (A to E).
A Minor 3rd Interval is a distance of 3 semi-tones.
A Diminished Chord, such as F# Diminished, consists of a Root (F#), a Minor 3rd (F# to A), and a Diminished 5th (F# to C).
A Diminished 5th interval is a distance of 6 semi-tones.
We’re going to use these intervals throughout the remainder of the article, so pay attention.
All Chords of G Major
Add the minor 7th to the D Major to make it a dominant 7th chord (D7).
A D7 chord is made up of the Major 3rd (D to F#), Perfect 5th (D to A), and the Minor 7th (D to C).
1) G Major
The G Major has the notes G, B, and D.
The B of the G Major chord is the Major 3rd.
It’s the part of the chord that gives it its major sound because the distance between the G and B is a major 3rd (4 semitones).
To turn the G Major chord into an G Major 7th, add the 7th note of the scale to it (F#), making it G, B, D, and F#. The distance between the G and F# is a major 7th (11 semitones).
2) A Minor
A minor requires the notes A, C, and E.
The C note is the operative tone that makes the chord minor.
This is because the interval between A and C is a minor third (3 semi-tones).
Add the 7th degree of the scale (G), to the A Minor chord to make it an A Minor 7th.
The notes of Amin7 are: A, C, E, G.
3) B Minor
B minor requires the notes B, D, F#.
The D note is the operative tone that makes the chord minor.
This is because the interval between B and D is a minor third (3 semi-tones).
To make a B Minor 7th chord, we just have to add the 7th note (A) if B is the beginning of the scale.
This gives us B, D, F#, and A.
4) C Major
C Major requires the notes C, E, and G.
The E note is the note that makes the chord major.
This is because the interval between C and E is a major third (4 semi-tones).
5) D Major (D7)
D Major requires the notes D, F#, and A.
The F# note is the note that makes the chord major.
This is because the interval between D and F# is a major third (4 semi-tones).
Adding the minor 7th to the D Major chord (the C note) transforms it into a Dominant 7th – represented as D7.
I’ve included some D7 voicings below.
6) E Minor
E minor requires the notes E, G, B.
The G note is the tone that makes the chord minor because the interval between E and G is a minor third (3 semi-tones).
To make the E minor chord an E minor 7th, add the 7th degree of the scale (D). This gives you the notes E, G, B, and D.
7) F# Diminished
F# Diminished requires the notes F#, A, and C.
The A note is the tone that makes the chord diminished because it shortens the distance between itself and the 3rd and 5th.
F# to A is a minor 3rd (3 semitones), and the distance between F# and C is a diminished 5th (6 semitones).
What Are the Primary and Secondary Chords of G Major?
Every key has three primary chords and four secondary chords.
In a way, you can think of primary chords as primary colors and secondary chords as secondary colors.
The way you use and blend primary and secondary chords adds personality and emotional tone to your musical work.
Primary
In G major, our primary chords are G major, C major, and D major (D7). Whichever chord you want to think of as red, yellow, or blue is up to you.
Theoretically, our tonic, G major, wants to progress to the sub-dominant, C major, which then wants to climax at the dominant chord, D major (D7), before resolving back to the tonic.
Secondary
In full, our secondary chords are A minor, B minor, E Minor, and F# Diminished.
To paint a fuller picture, we can use secondary chords to add a bit more personalization to the work.
Let’s say that we find ourselves starting out with primary chords, moving from G major to C major. We could easily move on to a D7, but what else could we choose?
D7 has the notes D, F#, A, and C. The last three notes of C7 make up the entire E diminished triad. Instead of transitioning to F# Diminished, however, we could use the extended F#m7b5.
Learning to see chords for their similarities instead of their differences is the key to using primary and secondary chords effectively.
What Are The 3 Major Modes of G Major?
1) G Ionian (Major)
The Ionian scale is the standard major scale.
Play the notes of G Major over an G Major chord to hear what the Ionian mode sounds like.
As I’ve explained in other articles, the C major scale is the benchmark scale that we use to compare and contrast all other scales.
We usually see it described like the way I showed at the very start of the article, in regular numbers from 1-7 with no sharps or flats or with a series of whole tones and semi-tones.
Here it is again for explanation’s sake:
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7
Whole Tone – Whole Tone – Semi Tone – Whole Tone – Whole Tone – Whole Tone – Semi Tone
G, A, B, C, D, E, and F# (in the case of the G Major scale).
2) C Lydian
The Lydian mode of G major is the fourth degree: C.
Play the notes of G Major over the C Major chord to hear what the C Lydian mode sounds like.
The Lydian scale is distinctive due to its inclusion of a raised fourth degree. In other words, a regular major scale is 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7.
You make this sound Lydian by raising the 4 to 4#:
The Lydian scale looks like this: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4# – 5 – 6 – 7.
For example, to make the G Major scale a G Lydian scale, you would raise the 4th note of the scale.
The notes would be the following: G, A, B, C#, D, E, and F#.
A C Lydian on the other hand would be the following: C, D, E, F#, G, A, and B.
3) D Mixolydian
The C Mixolydian of G Major revolves around the V note: D.
Play the notes of G Major over a D7 chord to hear what that Mixolydian mode sounds like.
To play convincingly in D Mixolydian, we’ll follow the same basic principles discussed for C Lydian.
However, Mixolydian’s defining tone is its flat seventh degree relative to the Major Scale:
Mixolydian: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7b
Ionian (Major): 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7
The notes of D Mixolydian are the following: D, E, F#, G, A, B, and C.
To make the G Major scale a G Mixolydian Scale, you would flatten the 7th degree of the G Major scale by one semi-tone.
The notes would be the following: G, A, B, C, D, E, F.
Is there anything else you need to know? Let me know what you think in the comment sections below.
Other Articles You May Be Interested In
- The Guitar Chords of F Major
- The Guitar Chords of E Major
- The Guitar Chords of D Major
- The Guitar Chords of C Major
- What Are the Most Beautiful Guitar Chords? [ANSWERED]
- What Guitar Chords Are Sad? [With Examples & Explanation]
- Why Is It Important To Learn Chords on Guitar? [SIMPLE]
- Why Triads Are Important To Learn on Guitar [ANSWERED]
- Free Fretboard Memorization Cheatsheet
