G major chord on piano

The notes and their roles

G major contains G, B and D. From the root, the semitone offsets are 0, 4, 7. The degree formula 1, 3, 5 describes each member relative to the root, not its order in a particular voicing.

Read this shape accurately

G, B and D are white keys. F-sharp belongs to the surrounding G-major scale but not to this three-note chord; adding it would create G major seventh.

Change only the third

Hold G and D steady. Lower B by one semitone to B♭ and the quality changes to minor. The root and perfect fifth do not change. This isolates the interval that distinguishes the two triads.

Choose a bass note

The root-position octave example is G4 · B4 · D5. Inversions put a different member in the bass while retaining G as the root. The table gives pitch-class order; move the leading notes up an octave as needed to keep each example ascending.

A short listening check

Play G major together, then as separate notes. Name the major third before looking at the display. Repeat in first inversion and check that B is the bass while G remains the root.

1. Choose the displayed root and quality in the chord explorer.
2. Compare root position with one inversion at the same tempo.
3. Save both examples in a named practice collection, or export a reference with note names.