Gb Minor
G flat Minor scale for guitar.
The Gb Minor is a seven-note scale, also called Natural Gb Minor. Colored circles mark the tones in the diagram, with darker color highlighting the root notes. The root notes are always Gb tones. In the two-octave pattern, the first root note is on the 6th string, 2nd fret.
Gb Minor 2 octaves
Gb Minor full fretboard
Gb Minor with note names
Shape 1 (1st position) with fingerings
Shape 2 (4th position) with fingerings
Shape 3 (6th position) with fingerings
Shape 4 (9th position) with fingerings
Shape 5 (11th position) with fingerings
The scale displayed with its numeric formula and scale degrees.
| Formula | Notes | Intervals | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gb | Unison | Tonic |
| 2 | Ab | Major second | Supertonic |
| b3 | Bbb | Minor third | Mediant |
| 4 | Cb | Perfect fourth | Subdominant |
| 5 | Db | Perfect fifth | Dominant |
| b6 | Ebb | Minor sixth | Submediant |
| b7 | Fb | Minor seventh | Subtonic |
The third degree is written as Bbb, which is the same as A. The fourth degree is written as Cb, which is the same as B. The sixth degree is written as Ebb, which is the same as D. The seventh degree is written as Fb, which is the same as E. A practice in a scale notation is to not include the same letter twice, if it can be avoided.
The interval formula (2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2) can be expound into specific notes of the scale.
| Notes (ascending) | Interval |
|---|---|
| Gb-Ab | M2 |
| Gb-A | m3 |
| Gb-B | P4 |
| Gb-Db | P5 |
| Gb-D | m6 |
| Gb-E | m7 |
| Notes (descending) | Interval |
|---|---|
| Gb-E | M2 |
| Gb-D | M3 |
| Gb-Db | P4 |
| Gb-B | P5 |
| Gb-A | M6 |
| Gb-Ab | m7 |
Abbreviations are used: M / m stands for major / minor and P stands for perfect.
The G flat Minor scale consists of seven notes. These can be described as intervals, as semi-notes or steps on the guitar fingerboard, written as 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1 - 2 - 2 from the first note to the next octave.
The Gb Minor is relative to A Major. Both scales include the same notes but their tonal center differ.
The Gb Minor is identical with the Gb Aeolian mode.
Beneficial to learn this scale is to observe the note steps starting from the root: whole, half, whole, whole, half, whole, whole. The same formula applies for the whole neck.
These are chords built from the notes of this scale:
| Gbm, Gbm7, Gbm9, Gbm11 |
| Abdim, Abm7b5 |
| A, Amaj7, A6, A6/9, Amaj9, Amaj13 |
| Bm, Bm7, Bm6, Bm9, Bm11, Bm13 |
| Dbm, Dbm7 |
| D, Dmaj7, D6, D6/9, Dmaj9 |
| E, E7, E6, E9, E11, E13 |
The tones in these chords correspond to the tones of the Gb Minor scale in which Gbm is the tonic triad and Gbm7 the tonic 7th chord.
Start the audio and play along! Use notes from the scale in the diagram above.
Normal tempo:Gb Minor scale first shape ascending.
The numbers above the tablature are suggested fingerings.