G sharp minor: scale and chords

The G sharp minor scale

G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E F♯

Key signature of G sharp minor: five sharps, in the order F♯ C♯ G♯ D♯ A♯, the same as B major, its relative major. Only B and E are white keys. Steps of the natural minor: W H W W H W W. Typed without the symbols: G# minor, the chord G#m.

G sharp natural minor is the plain scale above. G sharp harmonic minor raises F♯ to F𝄪, F double sharp: G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E F𝄪. On a piano F𝄪 is the white key G; it is written F𝄪 because the scale needs each letter once and G is already G♯. G sharp melodic minor raises E and F♯ on the way up, G♯ A♯ B C♯ D♯ E♯ F𝄪 (E♯ is the white key F), and comes down natural.

Play harmonic minor Play melodic minor

In Hz, from the keynote in octave 4: G♯4 415.3 · A♯4 466.2 · B4 493.9 · C♯5 554.4 · D♯5 622.3 · E5 659.3 · F♯5 740.0

On the piano, natural minor, one octave, the thumb on B and E: right hand 3 4 1 2 3 1 2 3, left hand going up 3 2 1 3 2 1 3 2. Coming down, reverse it. The same fingers work for harmonic minor (F𝄪, the white key G, with RH 2, LH 3) and for melodic minor going up (E♯, the white key F, with the thumb).

The G sharp minor pentatonic is G♯ B C♯ D♯ F♯: the scale without A♯ and E, the five notes most guitarists improvise with first.

Play the scale

The G sharp minor chord (G♯m) on guitar, piano and ukulele

G♯ B D♯

G♯m, the G sharp minor triad, is G♯, B and D♯: the keynote, the minor third and the fifth. It's the i in the table below and the vi of B major, which is why it turns up in so many songs in B.

Guitar, barre: 4 6 6 4 4 4 (low E to high E). The index finger across the 4th fret, A and D at the 6th: the open Em shape moved up 4 frets, or the open Em shape itself with a capo on the 4th fret.

Easier: x x 6 4 4 4, the top four strings, no full barre. Higher: x 11 13 13 12 11, the Am shape at the 11th fret. G♯m7 (G sharp minor 7) adds F♯: G♯ B D♯ F♯, 4 6 4 4 4 4. On piano G♯ B D♯ F♯: B is the only white key.

Ukulele (G C E A): 1 3 4 2, G♯ on the G string, then D♯, G♯ and B.

Piano: G♯ (black), B (white), D♯ (black). Right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1; B D♯ G♯ and D♯ G♯ B are its inversions.

Play G♯m

The chords in G sharp minor

Tap a chord to hear it.

Harmonic minor makes the v major: D♯ (D♯ F𝄪 A♯), on guitar x 6 8 8 8 6, or D♯7. That F𝄪 is what pulls a G♯ minor piece home. G♯m is also the iii of E major, the ii of F♯ major, the iv of D♯ minor and the v of C♯ minor.

G sharp minor chord progressions

• i–VI–III–VII: G♯m E B F♯. The loop above. Started from B it is I–V–vi–IV, the four chords under countless pop songs; started from G♯m it leans minor.
• i–iv–V7–i: G♯m C♯m D♯7 G♯m. The cadence with the raised seventh.
• i–VI–VII: G♯m E F♯. A climb that keeps coming back to G♯m.
• i–VII–VI–V: G♯m F♯ E D♯. Four chords stepping down to the major V.

Keys that mix with G♯ minor

On the Camelot wheel G♯ minor is 1A (Open Key 6m). Tracks in these keys mix without a clash:

• 1B B major relative major, the same seven notes
• 12A C♯ minor one step down
• 2A E♭ minor one step up
• 3A B♭ minor two steps up, the energy boost

Same keynote, the other mode: A♭ major (4B), three notes apart.

Where G♯ minor sits

Choir parts (soprano C4–G5, alto G3–D5, tenor C3–G4, bass F2–D4, where two part-writing guides agree): G♯3–G♯4 fits the alto part; G♯2–G♯3 fits the bass part; no whole G♯-to-G♯ octave fits the soprano or tenor parts. Find your own range.

As a sub or an 808, the keynote is G♯1 at 51.9 Hz, or G♯2 at 103.8 Hz an octave up. Tune an 808 to G♯.

What plays

Drums, an organ bass and a pluck, the Brumm app's own sounds, four bars at 123 BPM, one chord per bar. The arrows move bass and chords a semitone; the drums stay.

What G sharp minor is equal to: A flat minor

G♯ minor and A♭ minor are enharmonic: the same keys on a piano, spelled two ways. A♭ minor needs seven flats, F♭ and C♭ among them, so nearly all music is written in G♯ minor with its five sharps. G sharp minor is a key; G♯ on its own is one note, the black key between G and A, also called A♭.

Why is there no key of G sharp major?

There is, on paper: it needs eight sharps, one of them F𝄪, so everyone writes A♭ major (four flats) instead. That's why the parallel major of G♯ minor usually appears as A♭ major. Bach's G♯ minor prelude in The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, still ends on a G♯ major chord, a Picardy third. The G♯ major chord itself is everyday: G♯ B♯ D♯ (B♯ is the white key C), the V of C♯ minor, on guitar 4 6 6 5 4 4.

Is there a G sharp in A minor?

Not in A natural minor (A B C D E F G). A harmonic and melodic minor raise G to G♯, which is why E major (E G♯ B) is the V chord in A minor. G♯ minor and A minor are a semitone apart and share only two notes, B and E.

Is F sharp minor the same as G flat minor?

On a piano, yes, but G♭ minor would need nine flats, two of them doubled, so it's written F♯ minor. The same reason gives G♯ minor over A♭ minor.

G sharp minor on guitar

Three open strings are in the key: both E strings and the B. Over barre chords you can let them ring; an open B over G♯m is its minor third. With a capo on the 4th fret the open E minor shapes Em C G D become G♯m E B F♯, the loop on this page.

The G sharp minor pentatonic box at the 4th fret, two notes per string: low E 4 7 · A 4 6 · D 4 6 · G 4 6 · B 4 7 · high E 4 7. The roots are the 4th fret on both E strings and the 6th on the D string.

Famous songs and pieces in G sharp minor

• J. S. Bach, Prelude and Fugue No. 18, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Books I and II (BWV 863, BWV 887).
• Chopin, Prelude Op. 28 No. 12.
• Liszt, La Campanella, the third of the Grandes études de Paganini.
• Scriabin, Piano Sonata No. 2, Sonata-Fantasy, Op. 19.
• Shostakovich, String Quartet No. 8, second movement.

In pop the key mostly appears as B major's vi, and a song can sit between the two. Hum its home note into the note reader: G♯ or B tells you which.

Is G sharp minor hard to play?

Hard to read for some, with five sharps and a double sharp in harmonic minor. Under the fingers it is a comfortable key: it has B major's notes, and Chopin started his pupils on B major rather than C because the long fingers lie on the black keys and the thumb on the white and left C major, with no black keys to hold the hand, for last (Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger, Chopin: Pianist and Teacher as Seen by His Pupils, Cambridge University Press, 1986). Schubart's key characters (printed 1806) call the same keys, as A♭ minor, a "grumbler, heart squeezed until it suffocates" (Steblin's translation); in equal temperament it has the same intervals as every other minor key, only higher or lower.

For a producer: the keynote as an 808 is G♯1 at 51.9 Hz, or G♯0 at 26.0 Hz if you want it felt. Camelot 1A sits next to 12A, so G♯ minor mixes into C♯ minor across the top of the wheel.

Then hum over it

The hum button opens Brumm with a short line in the key over a beat. Hum yours and it becomes an instrument. No account, no upload.

Sources

Scales and chords: Open Music Theory, musictheory.net. Camelot, Open Key: Mixed In Key, Mixgraph. Open strings: Wikipedia. Choir parts: Open Music Theory, Geneseo. Guitar shapes: Wikipedia, Barre chord. Hz: A4 = 440 Hz, ISO 16.

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