G minor

G minor is a minor scale based on G.

G minor

Relative key	B♭ major
Parallel key	G major
Dominant key
Subdominant
Notes in this scale
G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G

Its relative major is B-flat major. G minor is one of two flat key signatures that needs a sharp for the seventh note (the other is D minor).

During the Baroque period, music in G minor was usually written with a one-flat key signature.

Mozart's use of G Minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart thought that G minor was the most suitable key for showing sadness and tragedy,^[1] and many of his minor key works are in G minor, such as the Piano Quartet No. 1 and the String Quintet in G minor. G minor is the only minor key he used as a main key for his numbered symphonies (No. 25, and the famous No. 40). In the Classical period, symphonies in G minor almost always used four horns, two in G and two in B-flat alto.^[2] G minor symphonies like Mozart's No. 25 often used E flat major for the slow movement, including Haydn's No. 39 and Vanhal's G minor symphony from before 1771 (Bryan Gm1).^[3]

Famous classical music in G minor

• Fantasia and Fugue in G minor "The Great", BWV 542- Bach
• Symphony No. 83 "The Hen" - Haydn
• Symphony No. 40 - Mozart
• Ballade No. 1 in G minor - Chopin
• Polonaise in G minor - Chopin
• Piano Concerto No. 2 - Saint-Saëns
• Slavonic Dance No. 8 in G minor - Dvořák
• Sicilliene, Op. 78 - Fauré
• Prelude in G Minor - Rachmaninoff
• Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor - Rachmaninoff
• Most of Verdi's Requiem (the Dies Irae), is in G minor.
• Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer" from The Four Seasons - Antonio Vivaldi
• Adagio in G minor - "Albinoni's Adagio", now said to be written by Remo Giazotto
• Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26 - Max Bruch
• Christmas Concerto - Arcangelo Corelli
• Ya Lil (Al Anisa Farah) - Ramage^[4][5][6][7]

See also: List of symphonies in G minor.

Variations

There are many variations of G minor.

Variation	Description
G minor 7th	a g minor chord containing G, Bb/A#, D, and F
G minor major 7th	a G minor chord with a Major 7th.
G minor major	a combination of G minor and G major.
G minor 6th	a G minor chord with a Major 6th.
G minor 9th	G minor 7th containing A.
G minor 2nd	a G minor with Ab or G#.
G augmented minor	the augmented version of G minor.
G diminished	has C#/Db instead of D.
G minor 7th-5	G diminished with minor 7th.
G diminished 7th	a G diminished with a major 6th.