Community Challenge 50 | Write something in the Key of G Minor

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Hi Everyone,

Every week I post a Community Challenge. This is an opportunity for my Patrons to explore writing music. Sometimes it's about applying some specific music theory concept. Sometimes it's about a specific technique. Sometimes it's an exercise in limiting yourself to some really specific parameters. Other times it's about writing from a very open ended writing prompt.

The goal is to practice being creative and actually use the music theory you've been learning here on my Patreon. In my opinion, the whole point of learning guitar is to express yourself musically.

This week's challenge is: Write something in the Key of G Minor

This is a pretty straightforward challenge. All you have to do is write something using the chords and/or scale of G Minor.

The easiest way to participate might be to write a simple riff or melody using a G Minor scale or even a G minor pentatonic scale. With this method, you could make things a little fancier by using a melodic or harmonic minor scale. Dorian or Phrygian modal melodies would count as a “G Minor” melody as well. We don’t need to stay in natural minor for this exercise. Just explain what scale(s) you’re using when you post your creation.

If you want to get a little more involved, you could write a chord progression with a melody over the top. In this case, you’d want to make sure you’re targeting chord tones with your melodies, especially if you’re mixing natural minor and harmonic or melodic minor, because some of the chords in melodic minor will clash with some of the scale notes in natural minor.

While I’d STRONGLY recommend figuring out the G Minor scale and chords using WHWWHWW, and reviewing Music Theory Monday if you don’t know how to do that, I’ll break everything down below:

G Minor Scale:

G - w - A - h - Bb - w - C - w - D - h - Eb - w - F - w - G

G Minor chords (natural minor):

i  = G-Bb-D = G minor

ii°  = A-C-Eb = A diminished

III  = Bb-D-F = Bb Major

iv  = C-Eb-G = C minor

v = D-F-A  = D minor

VI = Eb-G-Bb = Eb Major

VII = F-A-C  = F Major

If you want to explore harmonic minor, think about how you have the option of sharping the 7th note of the scale (F to F#) and think about playing that sharp note while playing a D Major chord instead of D minor. There is more to it, but that’s the essence of harmonic minor.

If you want to explore melodic minor, think about using F# and E natural, which would be a sharp 6th and 7th note, and the chords that go with those notes would be C Major chord for E natural and D Major for F#. Keep in mind, “E Natural” means “E NOT-flat.” In the key of G minor, E is flat to fit WHWWHWW, so when you talk about wanting to sharp an Eb, you say “E Natural.” Think of it as “E that is typically flat in this situation, but not right now.”

Post your creations on the community forum.

Check out the Lesson Archive for more Community Challenges - you’re welcome to participate on any past Challenge at any time!

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