The G# Major Piano Chord:

There are many different ways to play the G# piano chord. Press either of the "rotate notes" buttons to see different ways of voicing the G# piano chord. Press either of the "change octave" buttons to see the G# piano chord in different octaves. In the diagram below, you will only find the right hand notes. The bass (left hand note) is simply the root of the chord (G#). If you listen while the chord plays, you can hear that the bass note stays consistant while the top notes are changing.

NOTE: "X" after a note means "double sharp"!

G# major

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Major Third

The major third of a G# major piano chord (B#) is up 4 half-steps from the root (G#).

To find the major third:
Skip three half-steps up from the root (G#) and land on the fourth half-step (B#).

Start on:

  • The root of the chord (G#)

Skip three half-steps:

  • A
  • A#
  • B

And land on the fourth half-step:

  • the major third of the chord (B#)

The Fifth


fifth

The fifth (D#) is down a fourth from the root. Skip four half-steps down from G# and land on the fifth half-step (D#) to find the fifth.
To find the fifth of a G# chord: start on G#, skip FX, F#, E#, E and land on D#.
 

Related Scale:

The G# Major Scale
root second third fourth fifth sixth seventh octave

G#

A#

B#

C#

D#

E#

FX

G#

Triads are chords that are built with three notes from the scale. For example, the G# chord is built from the root, third and fifth of the G# major scale. To create triads, all you have to do is take every other note from a scale until you have three notes. So you could start also start on the second scale degree and take the second, fourth and sixth note and make a different triad.

The chord type will depend on which scale degree you start from. In major, if you start on the root, fourth or fifth, you'll have a major chord. If you start on the second, third or sixth, you'll have a minor chord. And if you start on the seventh, you'll have a diminished chord.

Triads:

  • Major - Root, M3, 5 (G#, B# and D#)
  • minor - Root, m3, 5 (G#, B and D#)
  • Augmented (Aug) - Root, M3, A5 (G#, B# and E)
  • diminished (dim) - Root, m3, d5 (G#, B and D)

Seventh Chords:

  • 7 - Root, M3, 5, m7 (G#, B#, D# and F#)
  • M7 - Root, M3, 5, M7 (G#, B#, D# and FX)
  • m7 - Root, m3, 5, m7 (G#, B, D# and F#)
  • dim7 - Root, m3, d5, d7 (G#, B, D and E#)
  • half dim7 (same as "m7b5") - Root, m3, flat 5, m7 (G#, B, D and F#)

You can see how important a good grasp of intervals can be to understanding chord structure and theory. Luckily, if you are shaky on your intervals, you can practice with my musical interval trainer.


Go back to the list of 72 essential piano chords

Piano Chord Tools

Test Your Piano Chord Knowledge
Flash-based piano chord finder
My most popular piano chords video from YouTube
48 piano chords in two mintes eleven seconds
My YouTube Piano Chords Channel
The "two-five" piano chord pattern animated
The "two-five" piano chord pattern animated with 9ths and flat 9ths
Using fourths to find piano chords -- part 1
Using fourths to find piano chords -- part 2
List of 72 basic piano chords
Printable piano chord chart
Minor thirds and how they relate to diminished chords

Ear Training Tools

Learn to hear half-steps and whole-steps
Study solfeggio with a randomly generated melody (easy)
Study solfeggio with a randomly generated melody (hard)
Musical interval training

Note and Rhythm Tools

Test Your Knowledge of the Note Names on the Piano
Learn the Lines of the Treble Clef and the Lines of the Bass Clef
Learn the Spaces of the Treble Clef and the Spaces of the Bass Clef
Practice Sight Reading in Both Clefs by Simply Typing the Name of the Note
Memorize the note names of the lines above and below the staff in both treble and bass clef
Practice sight-reading treble clef notes
Practice sight-reading bass clef notes
Practice sight-reading with the "Alien Note Killer" game
interval shapes for sight-reading
Learn rhythm videos

C Piano Chords

Piano chords with a root of C are down a or up a from piano chords with a root of G#.

C major (C)
C minor (Cm)
C major 7th (CM7)
C minor 7th (Cm7)
C dominant 7th (C7)
C diminished 7th (Cdim7)

Test Your Knowledge of C Piano Chords

See a Longer List of C Piano Chords

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Playing G# Piano Chords from a Fake Book:

These are general guidelines and not hard-and-fast rules.

Generally, the idea is to supply the missing notes underneath the melody note. By "underneath" I mean to the left of melody note on the piano, or lower in pitch.

G# with the root (G#) in the melody

If the melody note is the root of the chord (G#), play the following notes underneath the melody:

  • the fifth (D#)
  • the third (B#)

Right click on the image to zoom in/out.

G# with the third (B#) in the melody

If the melody note is the third of the chord (B#), play the folling notes underneath the melody:

  • the root (G#)
  • the fifth (D#)

Right click on the image to zoom in/out.

G# with the fifth (D#) in the melody

If the melody note is the fifth of the chord (D#), play the following notes underneath the melody:

  • the third (B#)
  • the root (G#)

Right click on the image to zoom in/out.

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Piano Chord Progressions that use the G# chord

The G# chord is the one chord in the iim7, V7, I progression in the key of Ab

The G# chord is the one chord in the vim7, iim7, V7, I progression in the key of Ab

The G# chord is the one chord in the I, IV, V progression in the key of Ab

The G# chord is the four chord in the IV, ivm, I progression in the key of Eb

The G# chord is the four chord in the I, IV, V progression in the key of Eb

The G# chord is the four chord in the V, IV, I progression in the key of Eb

The G# chord is the five chord in the I, IV, V progression in the key of Db

The G# chord is the five chord in the V, IV, I progression in the key of Db