Play The G Major chord on guitar
Welcome to our tutorial on the G Major (G maj) chord, a fundamental chord in the family of Major Chords. The G maj chord is composed of the notes G, B, and D, and is built using the music intervals of 1 (Root), 3 (Major Third), and 5 (Perfect Fifth). Understanding these intervals is crucial to mastering the G maj chord and other chords alike. If you need a refresher on intervals, we recommend our fretboard intervals tutorial.
Our tutorial will provide you with chord diagrams and fretboard patterns showing the tones that compose the G maj chord. These visual aids will greatly enhance your understanding and ability to play this chord. For more information on how to build chords by stacking intervals, we suggest our guitar music theory tutorial.
The G maj chord is a staple in a variety of music genres and is often found in common chord progressions. If you're interested in learning more about chord progressions and how to put chords together to create songs, check out our common chord progressions tutorial.
While the G maj chord is quite straightforward, understanding its notation depending on the intervals that compose it can be a bit more complex. If you need help with this, our guitar chords notation tutorial is a great resource.
Remember, practice is key when learning new chords. We hope this tutorial will help you master the G maj chord and enhance your guitar playing skills. Happy strumming!
Notes in the G maj chord:
GBD
Tones of the Major chord:
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).
G Major Chord Fretboard Shapes
Chord boxes are sorted from the easiest to the hardest. Learn how to read chord diagrams.
If you have difficulties with bar chord shapes, check the Bar Chords Tips tutorial.
You can also use this accessible chords page with written diagrams instruction.
Position 1
Open
Position 2
Movable
Position 3
Movable
Position 4
Open
Position 5
Movable
Position 6
Open
Position 7
Open
Position 8
Movable
Position 9
Open
Position 10
Open
Position 11
BarreMovable
Position 12
Open
Position 13
BarreMovable
Position 14
BarreMovable
Position 15
BarreMovable
Position 16
BarreMovable
Position 17
BarreMovable
You can 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
C maj | D maj | E maj | F maj | G maj | A maj | B maj | C#maj | D#maj | F#maj | G#maj | A#maj | Abmaj | Bbmaj | Dbmaj | Ebmaj | Gbmaj
How to create your own G maj chord fingerings
Pick some of the tones from the fretboard map below and play this chord in new ways.