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Chord & Fret

Harmonic field of G minor

The harmonic field of G minor is the set of seven chords born from the G minor scale — one on each of its notes. The table shows each in two versions: the triad (the three-note chord) and the seventh chord (the same chord with a fourth note, the seventh, that enriches it).

Notes: G – A – Bb – C – D – Eb – F
DegreeTriadSeventhFunction
iGmGm7Gm7Gm7Gm7tonic
ii°Am7b5subdominant
IIIBbBbmaj7Bbmaj7Bbmaj7Bbmaj7tonic
ivCmCm7Cm7Cm7Cm7subdominant
vDmDm7Dm7Dm7Dm7dominant
VIEbEbmaj7Ebmaj7Ebmaj7Ebmaj7tonic
VIIFF7F7F7F7dominant

The roman numerals mark the chord's position in the scale: I is the first degree, V the fifth. Uppercase = major chord; lowercase = minor; ° = diminished.

Tonic chords stabilize and rest; subdominant chords prepare motion; dominant chords build the tension that asks for resolution.

This is the natural-minor field. In practice the v often becomes V (major) or V7 — borrowed from the harmonic minor — to create the leading tone that pulls back to the tonic.

The tonic chord on all four instruments

Gm7, 3 5 3 3 3 3Gm7131111GDFBbDG
Guitar
Gm7, 3 5 3 3 3 3Gm7131111GDFBbDG
Electric guitar
Gm7, 5 3 3 3Gm73111GBbDF
Cavaquinho
Gm7, 0 2 1 1Gm7211GDFBb
Ukulele

In Chord & Fret, open the Circle of Fifths, pick G minor and hear every degree — triads and sevenths, with fretboard positions and the key's secondary dominants. Open in Chord & Fret →

Neighbouring keys

Relative: Bb major← C minorD minor →

See every harmonic field →