The Gm7 Guitar Chord

The Gm7 Guitar Chord. As a guitarist you know that 7th chords always add a little extra to your chord progressions. They can take an otherwise boring set of chords and give them new life. The Gm7 guitar chord has several variations you can play up and down the neck.

This chord can be played using many of the same shaped used in the Bm7 or Cm7 guitar chord lessons. If you are familiar with them this will be a good refresher for you.

We will cover several variations on how to play Gm7, how to build the chord on your own, as well as how to use it in a chord progression.

Let's get to the lesson!

How To Play The Gm7 Chord

This is probably the most commonly used version of this chord. It is simply a barre chord with a single additional note added in.

• index finger (1) barred across all 6 strings on the 3rd fret
• ring finger (3) on the D note on the A string at the 5th fret

Variations Of The Chord

Let's look at a couple other ways to play the Gm7 along the neck.

This first variation is played open:

• index finger (1) on the Bb note of the A string at the 1st fret
• middle finger (2) on the root G note of the low E string at the 3rd fret
• ring finger (3) on the F note on the D string at the 3rd fret
• play the G string open
• pinky finger (4) on the D note on the B string at the 3rd fret
• mute the high e string

• index finger (1) fretting the G note on the high e string at the 5th fret
• middle finger (2) fretting the Bb note on the high E string at the 6th fret
• ring finger (3) fretting the F note on the B string at the 6th fret
• pinky finger (4) fretting the D note on the G string at the 7th fret
• mute the low E and A strings

Gm7 can be played at many different points along the neck. Here is just one example:

• index finger (1) barred across the D, G, and B strings on the 8th fret
• middle finger (2) on the F note on the G string at the 10th fret
• ring finger (3) on the G note on the A string at the 10th fret
• pinky finger (4) on the D note on the high e string at the 10th fret

The Theory Behind It

In order to get a minor chord you will first need a major chord. To build a major chord you use what is called a major triad. A major triad formula is I - III - V. That just means it uses the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the key scale. In this case, we will use the key of G major.

• G (I)
• B (III)
• D (V)

The G major scale looks like this:

To make a minor chord you build a minor triad. The minor triad uses the same scale with a slightly different formula. The minor triad formula is I - bIII - V or the 1st, flat 3rd, and 5th notes of the key scale.

The formula for a Gm chord look like:

• G (I)
• Bb (bIII)
• D (V)

If you want to make a major chord a major 7th you just add a VII note. A Gmaj7 would look like:

• G (I)
• B (III)
• D (V)
• F# (VII)

A minor 7th needs a bVII, or flat 7th, instead of a VII note. so a Gm7 looks like:

• G (I)
• Bb (bIII)
• D (V)
• F (bVII)

Complementary Chords

Throwing 7th chords into a chord progression really adds a new layer of sonic texture to your progression. But, how do you make your own chord progressions? It's pretty easy and not too different from building a chord. Since we are using a minor chord we will use a minor key scale.

As you can see above, the major key scale starts at the root note (G) and follows the pattern of:

• whole note (G)
• whole note (A)
• half note (B)
• whole note (C)
• whole note (D)
• whole note (E)
• half note (F#)

To change a major scale to a minor scale you instead use the pattern of:

• whole note (G)
• half note (A)
• whole note (Bb)
• whole note (C)
• half note (D)
• whole note (Eb)
• whole note (F)

To figure out the minor chords available you use a minor chord scale. You can see the chords match up with the notes of the key scale. The Roman numerals determine whether the chord is major, minor, or augmented.

The chords available in a G minor chord scale are:

• Gm (i)
• Adim (iidim)
• Bb (III)
• Cm (iv)
• Dm (v)
• Eb (VI)
• F (VII)

Note: when a scale degree is lower case (example "iv") that means it is a minor chord.

To build your own chord progression you simply pull your chords from the chord scale. For instance, we went with a i7 - v7 - iv7 - III7 progression; or Gm7 - Dm7 - Cm7 - Bb.

This is how you play that progression:

A Couple Gm7 Chord Variations

Let's throw in a few more variations on this chord, just for fun.

In this version of the Gm7 you play it on the 10th fret. You play this chord by placing your:

• index finger (1) barred across the A, D, G, B, and high e strings at the 10th fret
• middle finger (2) fretting the Bb note on the B string at the 11th fret
• ring finger (3) fretting the D note on the D string at the 12th fret

The last version we'll learn is:

• index finger (1) fretting the Bb note on the B string at the 11th fret
• middle finger (2) fretting the G note on the G string at the 12th fret
• ring finger (3) fretting the F note on the high e string at the 13th fret
• mute the low E, A, and D strings

Songs That Have The Gm7 Chord

Here are some popular songs across multiple genres that have an Gm7 chord in them:

• Reach Out I’ll Be There by The Four Tops
• That’s Entertainment by The Jam
• I Love Music by The O'Jays
• Tainted Love by Soft Cell
• All About That Bass by Meghan Trainor

Final Word

You have another set of chords you can add to your arsenal and should be able to play the Gm7 in several different positions. You can also find more variations using the chord building theory techniques above. Now, put this knowledge to work and start making your own chord progressions and songs.

Happy playing!