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The Gm7 chord

The Gm7 (G - A# - D - F) is a minor seventh, which is why it sounds rounded and walkable. Writers pick it for a cocktail-jazz texture, and you can find it across jazz standards, neo-soul and yacht rock. On guitar the chord sits comfortably under a barre at the second fret; on piano it stacks straight up under the right hand. The page below covers the voicings worth memorising, the theory, the progressions where the Gm7 earns its keep, and the records that lean on it.

Hear the Gm7 in the chord builder →

Voicings for Gm7

Common ways to grip the Gm7 on guitar and piano. Guitar diagrams read low E to high E left-to-right; an × means muted, an open circle above the nut means an open string. Filled dots are fretted notes.

Guitar , full chord shapes

CAGED-derived voicings for Gm7 across the neck. Pick the shape closest to where your hand already sits.

Guitar: Em7 shape at fr.3
Notes: G - A# - D - F (chord tones)
Guitar: Am7 shape at fr.10
Notes: G - A# - D - F (chord tones)
Guitar: Dm7 shape at fr.5
Notes: G - A# - D - F (chord tones)
Guitar: top-4 voicing
Notes: G - A# - D - F (chord tones)
Guitar: high top-4 voicing
Notes: G - A# - D - F (chord tones)

Guitar , triad shapes

Three-note triad shapes on each string set, shown moving up the neck. Light textures for arpeggios, pop layering and chord-melody work.

Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.1
Notes: top-string triad, fr.1
Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.6
Notes: top-string triad, fr.6
Triad: top strings (G-B-e) · fr.10
Notes: top-string triad, fr.10
Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.3
Notes: middle-string triad, fr.3
Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.6
Notes: middle-string triad, fr.6
Triad: middle strings (D-G-B) · fr.10
Notes: middle-string triad, fr.10
Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.3
Notes: bass-side triad, fr.3
Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.7
Notes: bass-side triad, fr.7
Triad: bass strings (A-D-G) · fr.10
Notes: bass-side triad, fr.10

Piano voicings

Root position and inversions. The bass note matters: each inversion changes how the chord sits under a melody.

Piano: root position
Notes: G - A# - D - F. Root G at the bottom. The classic stacked-thirds spelling of a minor seventh.
Piano: first inversion
Notes: A# - D - F - G. A# at the bottom. Common in chord-melody, walking bass lines and gentler voicings.
Piano: second inversion
Notes: D - F - G - A#. D at the bottom. A floating, suspended feel often used in hymns and ballads.
Piano: third inversion
Notes: F - G - A# - D. F at the bottom. The seventh in the bass , a smooth jazz favourite.

The theory behind Gm7

Spell out the Gm7 and you get G - A# - D - F. The intervals from the root are root, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh, which is the recipe for a minor seventh. In a closely related major key the chord plays the role of passing chord; in a closely related major key it shows up as passing chord. Its preferred next move is walk into a dominant seventh a fifth above, which is what makes it useful in jazz standards and neo-soul.

Progressions that use Gm7

Short progressions that put the Gm7 to work. Each one is shown in a different key so you can pick the one that suits your singer.

iivV key of A minor
Gm7 (as passing colour)

This chord appears as a borrowed or passing chord in many minor-key progressions.

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Songs that feature Gm7

Real records where this chord does structural work. No lyrics quoted, just the title and artist so you can pull up a copy and hear it in context.

Related chords

Chords a step away from the Gm7 in the songwriting circle, the natural neighbours when you want a substitution.

Keys where Gm7 lives

The keys where this chord turns up diatonically. Open any key page for the full set of progressions that lean on it.

Related references

Other ways to put the Gm7 to work across the reference library.

More songwriting tools

Got the chord but still wrestling with the lyric? Find the right rhyme in RhymeForge, or break a writer's block with the unexpected word-pair generator in CollisionLab. Need to map a full progression? The chord builder on the home page is where the Gm7 fits into context. All free, no signup.

About the chord builder

The Undercover Zest chord progression builder is a free interactive tool that maps every diatonic and borrowed chord in every key. Click a Roman numeral to hear it, drag chords into a progression, then audition voicings, inversions and tensions until the song clicks.

This page is a static reference for the Gm7. For interactive playback, voice-leading hints and substitution suggestions, open the chord builder above.