G Chord Top 10 Variations| Learn G Chord

G Chord | G Chord 10 Variations

How to play Guitar

Want to learn G chord different positions and G chord variations on Guitar?

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In this post we are going to learn 10 different variations of G Chord on Guitar, which includes G Chord, Standard G Chord, G7 Chord, Gm Chord, Gm7 Chord, Gmaj7 Chord, Gsus4 Chord, G7sus4 Chord, Gsus2 Chord and G5 Chord. This post on G chord is going to be interesting as we are going to learn G chord with 7, major chord, minor chord, major 7 chord, minor 7 chord, suspended 4 ‘sus4’, suspended 2 ‘sus2’, G7 with sus4 chord, G chord with sus2 chord and G power chord so almost all type of G chords.

Every Chord on Guitar is having different set of position to play and different positions are called by different names depending on the selection of different Notes on the Guitar. Well the main part to play any chord is to play the Root Note and rests of the Notes are selected as per the requirement.

Let me quickly go through the suffix used in the G Chord name,

Gm Chord – Here, ‘m’ represents the Minor, this is called as G Minor Chord.

Gmaj7 Chord – Here, ‘maj’ represents G major 7 Chord, generally we don’t use anything at the time of signifying Major Chord. E.g. G Chord is always a G Major Chord unlike G minor chord. For every minor chord we have to use suffix ‘m’. Gm Chord is always G minor Chord. But I think we can use ‘maj’ at the time of Gmaj7 Chord.

Gsus Chord – Here, ‘sus’ represents Suspended, Gsus4 Chord is known as G suspended 4 Chord. We will discuss suspended naming convention and what 2 and 4 represents in sus Chords. E.g. ‘sus2’ and ‘sus4’ we will see at the time of discussing Gsus4 Chord.

G5 Chord – Here, 5 represents Power Chord, G5 Chord is also known as G Power Chord.  

G Chord Variations:

1.     G Chord:

This is the simplest pattern of G Chord and most of us start playing G chord from this pattern only.

How to play G Chord:

There are 2 ways to position your finger in the G chord pattern.

A. Put your middle finger on the 5^th string 3^rd fret and Index finger on the 5^th string 2^nd fret and place your ring finger on the 1^st string 3^rd fret to play G chord.

B. Put your ring finger on the 5^th string 3^rd fret and middle finger on the 5^th string 2^nd fret and place our smaller (4^th) finger on the 1^st string 3^rd fret to play G chord. Initially this pattern will take time as it needs lot of stretch between the ring finger and the smaller finger. Generally this position is derived by Barre chord pattern and is useful as your index finger is free to pick other notes which are useful in case of finger picking in between the chords.

Actually the second pattern allows you to move freely and pick other chords like G7 Chord, C Chord and other chords discussed in this post.

Well I am following the first pattern as I have used it from the beginning and now habitual of picking G chord like this and feel like there is no harm in picking G chord this way. But yes as and when required picking G chord using second pattern.

2.     Standard G Chord:

This is a standard G chord and I believe most of you are already aware of the pattern.

How to play G Chord:

Put your ring finger on 2^nd string 3^rd fret, smaller finger on 1^st string 3^rd fret, middle finger on 6^th string 3^rd fret and your index finger on 5^th string 3nd fret to play G Chord on Guitar.

3.     G7 Chord:

G7 Chord is also very often used chord, this chord could add spice to user chord progression. G chord other than first two G chord pattern which we have already discussed are played as per the requirement and feel of the song you are playing. 

As all of these chords sound different from each other but yes all these different G Chord patterns have that feeling of G Chord.

How to play G7 Chord:

Put your index finger on 1^st string 1^st fret, middle finger on 5^th string 2^nd fret and ring finger on 6^th string 3^rd fret to play G7 chord on Guitar.

Remember that strings 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th will be played open. Once you grab the G7 chord position correctly check all the string one by one by plucking them individually.

  

4.     Gm Chord (G Minor Chord):

Well, Gm chord (G Minor Chord) is a bar chord with Barre at 3^rd fret. This one also sound nice and will always have Sad feeling as this is a G Minor Chord.

How to play Gm Chord:

Put your ring finger on 5^th string 5^th fret, put smaller finger on 4^th string 5^th fret and then put bar at 3^rd fret using your Index finger to play Gm Chord on Guitar. There is no recommendation on the sequence of placing bar and fingers on specified Notes on Guitar. 

Placing bar in the beginning or at the end (after placing ring and smaller finger), whichever suits you. You can pick this G7 chord position like the way you want.

5.     Gm7 Chord (G minor 7 chord):

Gm7 Chord is basically G minor 7 Chord. Let’s quickly check the Gm7 chord position.

How to play Gm7 Chord:

Put your ring finger on 5^th string 5^th fret, put smaller finger on 2^nd string 6^th fret and then put bar at 3^rd fret using your Index finger to play Gm7 Chord. You may find little trouble playing this one but keep practicing and patience is the key of success.

6.     Gmaj7 Chord (G major 7 chord):

Once you get the pattern and play Gmaj7 chord you will feel that this chord gives a happy feeling as it belongs to G chord family with major behavior.

How to play Gmaj7 Chord:

Put your index finger on 1^st string 1^st fret, put middle finger on the 2^nd string 2^nd fret, put ring finger on the 3^rd string 3^rd fret and put your smaller finger on the 4^th string 4^th fret to play Gmaj7 Chord.

Remember not to play 5^th and 6^th string with this pattern as Gmaj7 chord is not allowing both these strings. 

Try to start strumming on 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th strings only.

7.     Gsus4 Chord (G suspended 4 chord):

Gsus4 Chord is G Suspended 4 Chord. Suspended chord is majorly used in Pop music.

Basically any major chord is a combination of Root Note, 3^rd Note and the 5^th Note. In order to play sus2 chord you need to replace the middle 3^rd note with the 2^nd Note. However to play sus4 chord you need to replace the 3^rd note with the 4^th Note.

Let’s take up an example of C Chord and try to find the Csus4 Chord quickly. First write down the Note series starting from C i.e. C D E F G A B C.

Root note is C, 4^th Note is F and 5^th Note is G. So Csus4 should consist of C, F and G Notes.

Now coming to Gsus4 chord, let’s check out the pattern of Gsus4 Chord.

How to play Gsus4 Chord:

Put your ring finger on the 6^th string 3^rd fret, put smaller finger on the 1^st string 3^rd fret and your index finger on the 2^nd string 1^st fret to play Gsus4 Chord. Also you need to make sure to mute 5^th string from your ring finger as 5^th string is mute and 3^rd and 4^th string will be played open in Gsus4 chord.

8.     G7sus4 Chord (G7 suspended 4 chord):

G7sus4 Chord is also one of the interesting chord in G chord family. I will suggest you to at least try to play all of the chords we are discussing in this post and feel the difference of their sound.

How to play G7sus4 Chord:

Put your ring finger on the 6^th string 3^rd fret, put smaller finger on 4^th string 3^rd fret and your index finger on the 2^nd string 1^st fret to play G7sus4 Chord.

You need to remember to mute 5^th string from your ring finger which is placed just next to 5^th string and mute 1^st string from your index finger which is placed on 2^nd string. This is required as G7sus4 chord is played with 5^th and 1^st strings muted.

9.     Gsus2 Chord (G suspended 2 chord):

Gsus2 chord is known as G suspended 2 chord.

How to play Gsus2 Chord:

Put your middle finger on 6^th string 3^rd fret, put ring finger on 2^nd string 3^rd fret and your smaller finger on 1^st string 3^rd fret to play Gsus2 chord.

10.                         G5 Chord (G Power chord):

G5 Chord is the last G chord pattern we are going to discuss in this post. G5 chord is also known as G Power chord.

How to play G5 Chord or G Power Chord:

G5 chord can be played based on your interest and the requirement of song and feel. You can play G5 chord or G power chord by just focusing on low three strings on guitar. To get this G chord position you need to put your index finger on the third fret sixth string your ring finger on the fifth fret fifth string and your pinky finger on the fifth fret forth string.

Remember to mute higher 3 strings i.e. G string, B string and higher E string (treble E string) to correctly play G5 Chord.

I hope you have enjoyed learning G chord different variations including G Chord, Standard G Chord, G7 Chord, Gm Chord, Gm7 Chord, Gmaj7 Chord, Gsus4 Chord, G7sus4 Chord, Gsus2 Chord and G5 Chord. This will not only help you in building basic chord knowledge but also let you familiar with most of the available G chord.

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Happy G Chord on Guitar Learning!!!