G minor

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G minor

Relative key	B♭ major
Parallel key	G major
Component pitches
G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, F, G

G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B♭, C, D, E♭, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F♯. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major.

Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale are written in with accidentals as necessary. G minor is one of two flat key signatures that requires a sharp for the leading tone (the other is D minor).

In the Baroque era, G minor was considered the "key of tragic consummation."^{[dubious – discuss]}

Mozart's use of G minor

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart considered G minor the key most suitable for expressing sadness and tragedy,^[1] and many of his minor key works are in G minor, such as the Piano Quartet No. 1 and the String Quintet in G minor. Though Mozart touched on various minor keys in his symphonies, G minor is the only minor key he used as a main key for his numbered symphonies (No. 25, and the famous No. 40). In the Classical period, symphonies in G minor almost always used four horns, two in G and two in B-flat alto.^[2] Another convention of G minor symphonies observed in Mozart's No. 25 was the choice of E flat major for the slow movement, with other examples including Haydn's No. 39 and Vanhal's G minor symphony from before 1771 (Bryan Gm1).^[3]