G Major and E Minor

The G Major scale consists of the notes G A B C D E F#. G is a 5th above C, or one clockwise movement along the circle of fifths above C. It shares all the same notes as C Major, except the F#, which is the leading tone in G Major.

E Minor is the relative minor of G Major, sharing all the same notes. E is the 5th of A, and A Minor is the relative minor of C Major. Just as we traverse the circle of fifths clockwise to go from C to G, we can do the same for A to E. E Minor is a rather popular key for guitar, having a tonic note as the lowest note of the standard-tuned 6-string guitar.

Contents

PreReqs

• Music Theory Basics
• C Major Chord
• G Major Chord
• E Minor, D Minor, and A Minor Chords
• Other Open String Chords
• Circle of Fifths

G Major

Diatonic Chords

G Major contains the following diatonic chords:

G Major Diatonic Chords

I	ii	iii	IV	V	vi	vii°
G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	Fdim
G B D	A C E	B D F#	C E G	D F# A	E G B	F# A C

Notice the 3 chords with the F# are the only ones that aren't also diatonic to C Major. The Bdim in C Major gets a raised 5th to become Bm. The Dm gets a raised 3rd to become D, and the F becomes F#dim. Their inclusion of the F# leading tone gives them a dominant harmonic function.

Open Position Scale

e--------------------------------------0--2--3-
b-----------------------------0--1--3----------
g-----------------------0--2-------------------
d--------------0--2--4-------------------------
a-----0--2--3----------------------------------
e--3-------------------------------------------
   r  o  m  r  o  m  p  o  m  o  i  r  o  m  r
   G  A  B  C  D  E  F# G  A  B  C  D  E  F# G

E Minor

Diatonic Chords

E (Natural) Minor contains the following diatonic chords:

E Minor Diatonic Chords

i	ii°	III	iv	v	VI	VII
Em	Fdim	G	Am	Bm	C	D
E G B	F# A C	G B D	A C E	B D F#	C E G	D F# A

Again, notice the 3 chords with the F# are the only ones that aren't also diatonic to A minor. The Bdim in A Minor gets a raised 5th to become Bm. The Dm gets a raised 3rd to become D, and the F becomes F#dim.

Open Position Scale

e--------------------------------------------0--
b-----------------------------------0--1--3-----
g-----------------------------0--2--------------
d--------------------0--2--4--------------------
a-----------0--2--3-----------------------------
e--0--2--3--------------------------------------
   o  m  r  o  m  r  o  m  p  o  m  o  i  r  o
   E  F# G  A  B  C  D  E  F# G  A  B  C  D  E 

Chord Voicings

G	Am	Bm	C	D	Em	F#dim
|-|-|-|p|-| |-|-|-|r|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|i|-|-| |-|-|-|m|-| 0	|o|-|-|-|-| |-|i|-|-|-| |-|-|r|-|-| |-|-|m|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 0	|i|-|-|-|-| |)|m|-|-|-| |)|-|p|-|-| |)|-|r|-|-| |i|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 2	|o|-|-|-|-| |-|i|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|m|-|-| |-|-|-|r|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 0	|-|-|m|-|-| |-|-|-|r|-| |-|-|i|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 0	|o|-|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| |-|-|r|-|-| |-|-|m|-|-| |o|-|-|-|-| 0	|-|r|-|-|-| |i|-|-|-|-| |-|m|-|-|-| |-|-|-|p|-| |-|-|-|-|-| |-|-|-|-|-| 1

If the F#dim shape is too difficult to reach the F# on the high E string, you can leave it off.