G minor is a

minor scale In Classical_music, Western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three Scale (music), scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending). ...

based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: Changes needed for ...

and its parallel major is

G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...

. The G natural minor scale is: Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. The G harmonic minor and melodic minor scales are:

Scale degree chords

The

scale degree In music theory, the scale degree is the position of a particular note on a scale relative to the tonic—the first and main note of the scale from which each octave is assumed to begin. Degrees are useful for indicating the size of intervals ...

chords of G minor are: * Tonic – G minor * Supertonic – A diminished * Mediant –

Subdominant In music, the subdominant is the fourth tonal degree () of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is the same distance ''below'' the tonic as the dominant is ''above'' the tonicin other words, the tonic is the dominant of the subdomina ...

– C minor * Dominant –

D minor D minor is a minor scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative major is F major and its parallel major is D major. The D natural minor scale is: Changes needed ...

Submediant In music, the submediant is the sixth degree () of a diatonic scale. The submediant ("lower mediant") is named thus because it is halfway between the tonic and the subdominant ("lower dominant") or because its position below the tonic is symm ...

–

E-flat major E-flat major is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically D minor). The E-fla ...

* Subtonic – F major

Mozart's use of G minor

G minor has been considered the key through which

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

best expressed sadness and tragedy, and many of his minor key works are in G minor, such as Piano Quartet No. 1 and String Quintet No. 4. Though Mozart touched on various minor keys in his symphonies, 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 alto. Another convention of G minor symphonies observed in Mozart's No. 25 and Mozart's No. 40 was the choice of

, the subdominant of the relative major B, for the slow movement, with other examples including

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's No. 39 and

Johann Baptist Wanhal Johann Baptist Wanhal (12 May 1739 – 20 August 1813) was a Czech composer of the Classical period. He was born in Nechanice, Bohemia, and died in Vienna. His music was well respected by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beetho ...

's G minor symphony from before 1771. James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, ''Elements of Sonata Theory'' (Oxford University Press: 2006) p. 328

Notable works in G minor

Arcangelo Corelli Arcangelo Corelli (, also , ; ; 17 February 1653 – 8 January 1713) was an List of Italian composers, Italian composer and violinist of the middle Baroque music, Baroque era. His music was key in the development of the modern genres of Sonata a ...

** '' Christmas Concerto'' * Henry Purcell ** " Dido's Lament" from '' Dido and Aeneas'' *

Antonio Vivaldi Antonio Lucio Vivaldi (4 March 1678 – 28 July 1741) was an Italian composer, virtuoso violinist, impresario of Baroque music and Roman Catholic priest. Regarded as one of the greatest Baroque composers, Vivaldi's influence during his lif ...

** Violin Concerto, Op. 4/6, RV 316a ** Violin Concerto, Op. 6/1, RV 324 ** Violin Concerto, Op. 6/3, RV 318 ** Violin Concerto, Op. 7/3, RV 326 ** Violin Concerto "Summer" from " The four seasons", Op. 8/2, RV 315 ** Violin Concerto, Op. 8/8, RV 332 ** Flute Concerto ''La Notte'', Op. 10/2, RV 439 ** Oboe Concerto, Op. 11/6, RV 460 *

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. He is one of the most prolific composers in history, at least in terms of surviving works. Telemann was considered by his contemporaries to b ...

** Fantasia for flute solo No. 12 ** Fantasia for viola da gamba solo No. 7 *

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

** Violin Sonata No. 1, BWV 1001 ** Great Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 542 ** "Little" Fugue in G minor, BWV 578 ** English Suite No. 3, BWV 808 *

** Stabat Mater ** Symphony No. 39 ** Symphony No. 83 "The Hen" ** String Quartet No. 26, Op. 20, No. 3 *

** Symphony No. 25 ** Symphony No. 40 ** String Quintet No. 4 ** Piano Quartet No. 1 ** Six Variations on "Hélas, j'ai perdu mon amant" *

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

** Cello Sonata No. 2, Op. 5, No. 2 ** Piano Sonata No. 19, Op. 49/1 *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

** Stabat Mater, D 175 ** String Quartet No. 9, D 173 ** Violin Sonata No. 3, Op. posth. 137/3, D 408 * Carl Maria von Weber ** Trio for Piano, Flute and Cello, Op. 63 *

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

** Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 25 ** String Symphony No. 12 *

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

Piano Trio A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in European classical music, classical chamber music. The term can also ...

, Op. 8 ** Ballade No. 1, Op. 23 ** Nocturne, Op. 37, No. 1 ** Prelude "Impatience", Op. 28, No. 22 ** Cello Sonata, Op. 65 ** Polonaise in G minor, Op. posth. * Charles-Valentin Alkan ** '' Scherzo diabolico'', Op. 39, No. 3 ** Esquisses, Op. 63, No. 6 "Les cloches"; No. 26 "Petit air, Genre ancien" *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

** Transcendental Étude No. 6 "Vision" *

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

** Symphony in G minor ("Zwickau") ** Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 22 ** Piano Trio No. 3, Op. 110 * Clara Schumann **

, Op. 17 * Bedřich Smetana **

, Op. 15 *

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period (music), Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, oft ...

** Piano Quartet No. 1, Op. 25 ** Rhapsody, Op. 79/2 ** Capriccio, Op. 116/3 ** Ballade, Op. 118/3 ** Hungarian Dance No. 5 (orchestral version) *

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...

** Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 22 **

Danse macabre The ''Danse Macabre'' (; ), also called the Dance of Death, is an artistic genre of allegory from the Late Middle Ages on the universality of death. The ''Danse Macabre'' consists of the dead, or a personification of death, summoning represen ...

, Op. 40 *

Max Bruch Max Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920) was a German Romantic Music, Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin ...

** Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 26 * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ** Symphony No. 1, Op. 13 * Antonín Dvořák ** Piano Concerto, Op. 33 ** Slavonic Dance No. 8 ** Rondo for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 94 ** Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 26 ** Bagatelles, Op. 47 *

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the leading Romantic music, Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwid ...

** Ballade in the Form of Variations on a Norwegian Folk Song, Op. 24 * Gabriel Fauré ** Sicilienne, Op. 78 *

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

String Quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

, Op. 10 * Isaac Albéniz ** '' Cataluña'', Op. 47, No. 2 * Mykola Leontovych ** '' Shchedryk'' * Gustav Holst ** Mars, the bringer of war, from the orchestral suite The Planets * Ralph Vaughan Williams ** Mass in G minor *

Sergei Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and Conducting, conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a compos ...

** Piano Concerto No. 4 ** Prelude in G minor ** Cello Sonata *

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

** Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 16 * Dmitri Shostakovich ** Symphony No. 11 ''The year 1905'', Op. 103 ** Piano Quintet, Op. 57

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical keys Minor scales

Scale degree chords

Mozart's use of G minor

Notable works in G minor

See also

References

External links