Master The G Major Chord On Guitar with Interactive Lessons

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Seven of the 17 voicings of the G major chord on this page use open strings, and the fullest one, 320003, rings all six strings. The chord is built from G, B and D.

G is the I chord in G major, the IV chord in D major and the V chord in C major, so it appears in many common chord progressions. For a solo over it, the G major pentatonic scale (G, A, B, D, E) holds all three chord notes.

Strum the shape in front of your microphone and the chord player at the top of the page shows which strings ring clearly and which are muted.

G major guitar chord is also written as G, Gmaj, GM or GΔ.

Notes in the G maj chord:

G B D

Tones of the Major chord:

Formula: 1 3 5

G Maj Guitar Chord Diagrams

Position 1 Open

Finger Positions

Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the low E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 2 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the low E, B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 4 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the D string

Position 3 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the G and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 9 of the D string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 10 of the A string

Position 4 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the D string
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 5 Open

Finger Positions

Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the low E string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 6 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the D string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the G and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the B string

Position 7 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the low E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 4 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the D string

Position 8 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 9 Open

Finger Positions

Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Mute the G string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the low E string

Position 10 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the A string
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the low E string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 11 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 3 of the B and high E strings at the same time
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 4 of the G string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 5 of the D string

Position 12 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 3 of the B string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 13 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the D string
Mute the G string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 3 of the low E string

Position 14 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the G string
Mute the B string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 5 of the D string

Position 15 Open

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Let the D string play without pressing any fret
Let the G string play without pressing any fret
Let the B string play without pressing any fret
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 2 of the A string
Place your pinky finger (4) on the fret 3 of the high E string

Position 16 Barre Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 10 of the A and high E strings at the same time
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 12 of the D, G and B strings at the same time

Position 17 Movable

Finger Positions

Mute the low E string
Mute the A string
Mute the high E string
Place your index finger (1) on the fret 7 of the G string
Place your middle finger (2) on the fret 8 of the B string
Place your ring finger (3) on the fret 9 of the D string

Find more shapes in our all guitar chords online library. If you prefer a printable pdf, download the Free Guitar Chords Chart Pdf

Play This Chord With Other Roots

Keys With The G Major Chord

Here are the most common keys that have a G major chord.

The most common place where to find a G major chord is the 5th degree of the C major key, in which its function is dominant.

In this role, often it's played like a G7 dominant chord, which create a strong tension than can be resolved on the tonic.

C Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
C	C	Dm	Em	F	G	Am	B dim

G Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
G	G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	F# dim

D Major Key

Key	I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii
D	D	Em	F#m	G	A	Bm	C# dim

E Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
E	Em	F# dim	G	Am	Bm	C	D

A Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
A	Am	B dim	C	Dm	Em	F	G

B Minor Key

Key	i	ii	III	iv	v	VI	VII
B	Bm	C# dim	D	Em	F#m	G	A

Songs With The G Major Chord

There are a tons of easy guitar songs with the G chord.

Here are some notable examples:

Big Rock Candy Mountain
You Shook Me All Night Long (Ac/Dc)
Ring Of Fire
Yellow Submarine
Sweet Home Alabama
Free Bird

As you can see, the list could be endless, so you really must know the G major chord!

Possible Substitutions For The G Major Chord

Depending on its role in the progressions, this chord can be substituted with other forms:

You can use a G sus2 or a G sus4 instead a G major chord. These are suspended chords than don't have the 3rd.

When found at the 5th degree of the progession, you can use a G7 or a G diminished chord instead of the G major chord.

To sound more jazzy, you could even use a Db7 instead of the G7 (this is called tritone substitution).

Want to Learn Everything About Chords?

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You'll learn how to play 44 chords types across all the fretboard, with many voicings and fingerings

In the ebook you can also find maps show you the tones in a chord all along the fretboard. They are incredibly helpful because allow you to:

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Created by

Giancarlo Facoetti

Giancarlo is a musician (teaching guitar since 2000), software engineer, AI consultant and published researcher

FAQ

Which notes does G major contain?

G major contains G, B and D. B is four semitones up from G, a major third, and D is seven semitones up, a perfect fifth.

How many ways are there to play G major?

G major has 17 voicings: 7 with open strings and 6 with a barre. The highest one reaches the 12th fret.

Which keys have G major as a main chord?

G major is the I chord of G major, the IV chord of D major and the V chord of C major. Its notes G, B and D are in all three scales.

Which scale goes with G major?

The G major scale: G, A, B, C, D, E, F#. It contains the chord's three notes: G, B and D, so melodies in it fit the chord.