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G sharp minor chord

The three notes, the three ways to stack them and which fingers to use.

The short answer

The notes of the G sharp minor chord are G sharp, B and D sharp.

On the keys

Keyboard with G sharp, B and D sharp markedBG♯D♯

Yellow is the root, the note the chord is named after.

On the staff

Treble and bass staves showing the G sharp minor chord in root position: G sharp, B and D sharp

The G sharp minor chord in root position. The treble clef is the right hand; the bass clef is the same chord an octave lower for the left.

Inversions

An inversion keeps the same three notes and changes which one is lowest. The G sharp minor chord has a root position and two inversions, and all three still sound as G sharp minor.

  1. Root positionG♯ B D♯right hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 3 1
  2. First inversionB D♯ G♯right hand 1 2 5, left hand 5 3 1
  3. Second inversionD♯ G♯ Bright hand 1 3 5, left hand 5 2 1

Keep going

G sharp minor scale

The scale this chord is built on: G sharp, A sharp, B, C sharp, D sharp, E and F sharp.

B major chord

The relative major shares the same key signature as G sharp minor.

G sharp major chord

G sharp major, written here as A flat major: the same keys on the piano, spelled differently. Same root, one note different.

Questions

How do you build a G sharp minor chord?

Start on G sharp, add the minor third (three semitones) above it, which is B, then the perfect fifth above the root (seven semitones), which is D sharp.

How many inversions does a G sharp minor chord have?

Two: first inversion puts B at the bottom and second inversion puts D sharp at the bottom. With root position that makes three ways to play the same chord.

Practise G sharp minor and the chords around it in PlayPiano, a piano practice app for iPhone and iPad.

Play it in the app