Tag Archives: Major chords

G Chord Notes: What 3 Notes Make a G Major Chord?

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What Notes Are in a G Chord?

The G major chord contains three notes: G, B, and D. These are the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes from the G major scale, which is the formula for building any major chord.

When you play a standard G chord on guitar, you’re actually playing these three notes multiple times across different strings:

  • 6th string (3rd fret): G
  • 5th string (2nd fret): B
  • 4th string (open): D
  • 3rd string (open): G
  • 2nd string (open): B
  • 1st string (3rd fret): G

Notice how G appears three times, B appears twice, and D appears once? That’s perfectly fine! Octaves and repeated notes don’t change the chord – as long as you have G, B, and D somewhere in there, it’s a G major chord.

Watch the Full Explanation

In this video, I’ll show you exactly how to find these notes on the fretboard and explain the 1-3-5 pattern in more detail:

Why These Three Notes?

All major chords follow the same pattern: the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes from the major scale. In the key of G, that means:

  • G (the 1st note, or “root”)
  • A (the 2nd) – not used in the chord
  • B (the 3rd)
  • C (the 4th) – not used in the chord
  • D (the 5th)

This 1-3-5 formula works for any major chord. For example, a C major chord uses C (1st), E (3rd), and G (5th) from the C major scale.

Different Ways to Play G Major

You can also add a D note on the 5th string (5th fret) for a fuller sound. This gives you two D notes in the chord instead of two B notes, creating a slightly different voicing while still maintaining the G-B-D combination.

Understanding how chords are built from scales helps you see patterns across the fretboard and gives you more freedom to voice chords in different ways.

Click here for the Unlocking I IV V Course

The Difference Between Major and Minor Chords

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Have you ever wondered what makes a minor chord different from a major chord? The difference boils down to a single note, which is the 3rd. The other two notes we put in every chord – EVERY chord – are the root note and the fifth. Those two notes are the same regardless of whether we’re talking about a major chord or a minor chord.

There are two types of thirds, major thirds and minor thirds. So, if you’ve got a minor third in between the root note and the fifth, you end up with a minor chord.

Major and minor thirds are the color notes, and they make great harmonies. Learning to use those thirds can really help your guitar playing, and that’s part of what this lesson is about.

If you’re not familiar with the scale degrees, and how they can be used like numbers, you might want to checkout my lesson on Unlocking I IV V, as it explains that in detail.