G#7 Chord on Ukulele
G#7 = G# – C – D# – F# (Root, Major 3rd, Perfect 5th, Minor 7th)
G#7 adds a flatted seventh (F#) to the G# major triad, and unlike its wide-stretching cousin F#7, the resulting shape stays compact: grab the first fret on the G string, the third fret on the C string, the second fret on the E string, and the third fret on the A string, all within a tidy window near the bottom of the neck. The four notes present — G# (G string), D# (C string), F# (E string), and C (A string) — spell the chord's root, fifth, flatted seventh, and third with no doubling anywhere, even though the C and A strings both happen to land on the third fret without being adjacent strings, so each still needs its own separate finger.
G#7 functions as the V7 of C# minor, a key that shares its signature with the ukulele staple E major, so any song built around E that dips briefly into its relative minor often reaches for G#7 to drive that detour home. The chord supplies a dominant seventh's full color: the leading tone, spelled B# but sounding identical to C, pulls up into C#'s own root, while the added F# gives the harmonic bite that separates a dominant seventh from a plain major triad. Because nothing here rings on an open string, the chord's tension stays compact and focused rather than diffused by unfretted resonance, unlike C7 or G7, which get to lean on ringing open strings for extra color. Occasionally G#7 also flashes briefly toward C# major as a secondary dominant inside a longer B major or E major progression, a passing splash of brightness rather than a genuine destination.
Fingerings
Closed Position
How to Practice It
Build this shape from the outside in: place the index finger on the G string's first fret and the pinky on the A string's third fret first, since those two are the easiest to locate by feel, then fill in the C and E strings between them. The C and A strings both calling for the third fret is the shape's main trap — because the E string sits between them at a different fret, any attempt to barre across that span would drag the E string down to the wrong pitch, so those two notes need genuinely separate fingers, never one flattened one. Once all four fingers are placed, practice releasing the whole shape and refretting it from scratch repeatedly, since with no open string or barre available to anchor it, the hand has to relearn the full four-finger landing as a single unit. Finish by resolving slowly into C# minor, listening for how the C-to-C# leading-tone step makes the cadence land.
Common Progressions
- V7 – i (G#7 – C#m), resolving to C# minor
- V7 – I, resolving to C# major instead for a brighter landing
- ii – V7 – i in C# minor (D#dim – G#7 – C#m)
- G#7 as a secondary dominant leading briefly toward C#m inside an E major progression
FAQ
- What does G#7 resolve to?
- C# minor is its home, since G#7 sits a fifth above that key's tonic and carries the exact leading-tone and tension-note combination a minor key's dominant seventh needs to pull the ear back to its root.
- Is G#7 harder to play than G# major?
- Not really — adding the seventh here actually keeps the shape within a compact three-fret span, closer together than some of the wider stretches other dominant sevenths in this key family require.
- Why do two fingers land on the same fret in G#7?
- The C and A strings both need the third fret for different chord tones, and since they aren't adjacent strings, they need two separate fingers rather than a barre, which would also touch the E string and introduce a foreign note.
- Is G#7 common in ukulele songbooks?
- It's a fairly rare tonic-key sighting, since C# minor and E major arrangements are a small slice of most beginner songbooks, though it turns up reliably wherever a piece written in E briefly tonicizes its own relative minor.
- How does G#7's compact shape compare to F#7's much wider one?
- Even though both are dominant sevenths built a half step apart, F#7's four notes happen to fall much further apart on GCEA tuning than G#7's do, a reminder that a chord's difficulty on ukulele depends heavily on where its specific pitches land relative to the open strings, not just its harmonic function.
G#7 on other instruments: G#7 on Guitar, G#7 on Piano. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.