Diminished Gutar Chords - How & When to Play Pere forem —xoce” cores ol Re dS Chee Pupesirs | Remrees Coe scales —Theay About Co Home > Chords! Progressions > Diminished Chords Diminished Guitar Chords in Theory & Practice This lesson will explain the theory behind diminished guitar chords and their function. ‘There's a lot of confusion around how diminished chords work in music. often get asked the question of "when to use them’ in a chord progression. ‘As with music in general, there are no hard and fast rules (except “if it sounds good, play it"), but Il take you through some of the tried and tested functions diminished chords can serve in your music. Even if you were just looking for a chord chart (which is further down the page), read through the whole lesson, split over a few days, as it will prove very rewarding as far as developing your improvisation and songwriting skills. Diminished chord theory - how to construct them Diminished chords ("diminished” referring to the diminished Sth in the chord) have an unstable sound, They create an air of tension and unresolve (hear the examples below) which is what makes them wonderfully intriguing chords to use in your music. ‘There are 3 main types of diminished chord, as shown in the table below. Note that if you see the * symbol after the chord letter (e.g. C*), it means "diminished". When typing, some people just use “0” as the proper symbol requires digging out the character map! Full chord name ‘Abbreviations Intervals Hear it Diminished triad dim (Cdim, Edi) 1 b3 bs click here (CE) Half diminished chord m7b5 (Gm7b5, Em705) 1 bs bs b7 click here dim? (Ceim7, Edim7) Diminished seventh chord 1 b3 bS bb7 click here °7 (C7, E°7) hsyascanee news conmen earesctn aot AAD moro an ts me te hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl 32ran016 Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play So, a diminished triad can ply be thought of as a minor chord with a flat Sth. Ahaalf diminished chord is the above diminished triad with an added flat 7th. This chord is also sometimes written as m7b5 (minor 7 flat 5) e.g. Cm7bs, Adimit ished triad with an added diminished 7th. That's another way of saying "double flat 7th". So the only difference between a dim? and m7bS chord is the 7th is flattened another semitone in dim7 chords. ished seventh chord is a dimi First, just make clear in your mind these distinctions as each one has a different sound and function which we'll look at shortly. Diminished guitar chords chart - how to play them To help you play along throughout this lesson, here are the most commen diminished 123 guitar chord forms used in chord progressions with ther fingerings. > Download the printable chord chart (PDF) im. Note that | haven't included diminished triads, because these are most commonly extended to half diminished or diminished 7th, You can see how the triad exists in both these types, Half diminished chord chart Sass SSE Asstring shape D string shape Es hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl ang2rano16 Diminished Gutar Chords - How & When to Play oe. aie Diminished seventh chord chart E string shapes Astring shape D string shape hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl aia2rano16 Diminished Gutar Chords - How & When to Play Diminished chords function - when to use them ‘As mentioned earlier, occurences of the diminished triad are often ‘extended to half diminished or diminished 7th chords, because they ‘sound more... interesting, Essentially, you're playing the diminished triad in both those variations anyway, so they’te just a meatier, more colourful version of the triad. ‘So, whenever there is an occurence of a diminished chord then you should try both m7bS (half diminished) or dim7 and go with the one that sounds best to you, Let's look at some typical uses of the chord. Leading tone (vii) diminished chord In major keys, a half diminished chord naturally occurs on the 7th degree (called the leading tone or vi). In plain English that means whatever the major tonic (1) chord is, the diminished chord naturally sits one semitone/frat down from that, It's called a "leading tone” or “leading chord” because it naturally resolves or “leads” to the tonic, You can hear an example here. See the table below for a breakdown... Key/ Tonic Chord Lead tone chord Examples F/Bdim /C C major Baim Dm /Bdim Am /Bdim | Fit Cdim / Cit apshwww frjam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl an2ran016 Diminished Gutar Chords - How & When to Play c# major dim Ebm / Gdim / C# Bbm / Cdim / C# G/Cidim /D D major Haim Em / Cifdim /D Bm / Cidim / D That's just a few examples. You should be able to see this same leading tone chord - tonic relationship no matter what key you're in. In minor keys, and especially minor keys based around harmonic minor, a diminished 7th chord is the natural leading tone chord (click to hear example). Key/ Tonic Chord | Leadtone chord | Examples minor Baim? F 1Bdim7 Cm C# minor Cdim7 Fit Cdim7 / C#m D minor Clim? G/CHdim? J Dm Half diminished iii chord In major key progressions, the iii chord (naturally minor) is sometimes replaced with a half diminished iii. You'l hear this most commonly used in jazz, For example... (maj? - D7 - Em7bS - A7 - Dm? - G7 - Cmaj7- click to hear I's also used in jazz to extend the ii V I (2 6 1) tumaround as follows.. Dm? - G7 - Em7b5 - Aaug? - Dm? - G7 - Cmaj7 - click to hear You can hear how the tension in that half diminished iii chord is transferred to the augmented 7th chord before the natural ii V I resolution, Half diminished ii chord Half diminished chords are also often used as the ii chord of major and minor key progressions before the V chord. Take a listen. Minor key: Am - Bm7bS - E7 - Am - click to hear Major key: C - Dm7bS - G7 - C - click to hear We can also use a dim7 chord on the same ii chord root in place of the V chord. ‘Am - Bm7bS - Bdim7 - Am - click to hear Parallel diminished 7th chord A diminished 7th chord can resolve to a chord with the same root (known as a parallel chord change). For example, if hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl si2ran016 Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play the tonic was E major. E major - Edim7 - E major - click to hear You could also do the same with a minor tonic, What this does is destabilise the tonic for added interest. Plugging whole step interval gaps Essentially, you can fill any whole stop interval between two chords in a scalo with a diminished 7th chord For example, the major diatonic scale is as follows. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 I ii iii IV V_ vi vii I We can literally plug those whole step (W) gaps between the 1 and 2 chords, 2 and 3 chords, 4 and § chords, and and 6 chords with a dim7. We can now visualize the scale as follows. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 IT in ii dim iii IV bin Vo obim Vi dim Vii I If we were playing in the key of C, some examples of the above technique would be as folows.. C-Em- F-Fédim7 -C -G-Fm-C- click o hear C- Cdim7 - Dm? - G7- C- click to hear C-Ebdim7 - Dm7 -G-C- click to hear C-G-Abdim7 - Am -F -G-C- click o hear ‘Those are pretty simple progressions, but using that diminished 7th “plugging” technique adds some spice and unpredictability You can also do the same with minor key progressions or any progression that uses whole steps. The symmetry of diminished seventh chords If you look at the intervals of a diminished seventh chord, you'll notice that each one is separated by a minor 3rd. In other words, there is equal spacing between each note of a dim7 chord, 41> minor 3rd > b3 > minor 3rd > bS > minor 3rd > bb7 > minor 3rd > 4 hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl ansamano Diminished Gite Chres- How & When Ploy This gives the chord what is known in music as symmetry. It means we can apply a pretty cool trick when playing the chord in a progression, 4) Start by playing a Cdim7 chord (or any root 2) Keep that same chord form and move it up 3 frets (that's the equivalent of a minor 3rd interval). So Cdim7 would move to Ebdim7, 3) From that new position, move another 3 frets, again keeping the same dim7 form. From Ebdim7 we'd end up at Fildim7, Here's what we get (cick to hear). mpoage Tip: Don't just move in minor 3rds using one roct string. Try moving in minor 3rds from the E to A string and A to D strings, using the chord shapes you leamed earlier, Because of the symmetry of the dim7 intervals, moving in minor 3rds like this produces exactly the same chord, but each new position is a different inversion of that original dim7 chord, Practically, that means whenever we choose to play a dim7 chord, using any of the functions covered in this lesson, we can also play any of its related positions based on its minor 3rd intervals. So let's take a progression from earlier using the whole step plugging technique. C- C#dim7 - Dm? - G7 - C- click to hear We could also play. ©-Eaim7 - Dm? - G7- C- click to hear Because of this minor 3rd symmetry, Edim? is actually the same as C#dim7, its intervals are just inverted, changing its voicing, You can use this method to create more elaborate chord progressions, such as the following, Click to hear All 'm doing there is moving in minor 3rd intervals (up or down the fretboard) whenever | use a diminished seventh chord. It was just an example, so don't overuse it! hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl ms2ran016 Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play | hope this lesson has given you some fresh ideas for your songwriting. Keep experimenting with using diminished guitar chords in different ways. Was this helpful? Stay updated and learn more Share this with your fellow guitar enthusiasts. Enter your email below for more like this and grab your free Uncommon Chords book. Please support this site, | really appreciate it! Enter Your Email & Click Subscribe Subscribe Share your thoughts. Have any questions, thoughts or ideas about this lesson? Let us know using the comments form below. 35¢omments —freijam @ Login recommend 4 EE Shae Sort Best @]) | scin tre ciscussion a © Eran ‘A printable version ofthe chord charts would be useful 1 Reply « St wai estar 2 * Well, better late than never! Printable version now available There's a ink above the chord chart, Cheers. 1 + Reply + Shar orld» 3 yeas a Many thanks! Very useful. More power to you. 1 F “Tip: Dor't just move in minor 3rd using one root string, Try moving in minor 3rds fram the Eto A sting and A to D stings, using the chord shapes you leamed earlier. Because ofthe symmetry ofthe dim7 intervals, moving in minor Srds tke this produces exact the same chord, but each new positon isa itferent inversion ofthat original dim7 chor, Practical, that means whenever we choose to play a cim7 chord, using any of the functions covered in this lesson, we can also Play any ofits related positions based on its minor rd intervals" best part of his entire esson.....ight bul just came ont... thanks rmrtvoeieh ~ Siren ‘Awesome article, thank you so much! Reply « Sh napshwww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl ais2ran016 Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play oo + Sirens ae MBE onder Pau ecarnay knows a his su? wai (Bestar tos Ao - Srerreca ‘Some musicians have such a good ear that they inutively know what sounds good and how to translate itt their instrument. | think McCarey was one ofthese musicians. The aim of lessons like this one isto open your ears to tied and tested musical functions that you can then explore independently. Cheers. ‘ey + Shere GtarSmith © yo NBR Very rept nsson on undestancing diminished chords, what chords are you using nthe more elaborate progression al he end of ho esson? Sounds awesome! ely» Sear iy Mees toe cursnn «aye (Uthink this is ight.) Cmai7/ CHdim? - Edin? - Geim? Dm / Dien? - Fei - Adi? / Cadd69 / C13) Caug? J Fmaj? Fi ~ Adin? ~ Caen? / Cad / Fei? - Dit? / GOsusd / Gti? - Fi? - Daim? - Fim | Cad69 Phew! + Reply « Shae KING SOLOMON « 2 o2r20: VERY HELPFUL, GOOD TEACHER, KEEP IT UP Dan «aoe | saw this lesson on Youtube. It's vey instructive! | ove the part about "filing" whole-tone gaps in the scale with ciminshed chords. Fantastic tip! I dor' think Ive ever Seen that anywhere else, though i's probably a welbknown industy secrel! Thanks so ‘much! Its opened world for me! iano n bass =o thanks @ lot bro! Really helpful lesson! Reply « Stax James - 2 ox ‘awesome! thanks for explaining ciminished chords in such an easy to understand way Reply » Stare Reuet «2 yor Mate, just wanted to say that your lessons have been very very helpful for me. Thank you, Paul Love the parallel atored chord change. Great lesson, gly « Sha thinkerman » 2 e120» Brillant lesson, You say the term diminished refers to the chords! unstable sounds. | wonder iit refers tothe flattening (diminishing) ofthe 5th, mtroring what you say about the augmented chord, where the term augmented refers to raising the Sth. Anyway, it seems a more mnomonically useful way of thinking about i to me. Smt & @ wai is estan Yor men 2) “Thanks thinkerman, | wrote: "Diminished chords (“drinished” refering tothe diminished Sth inthe chord) have an unstable sound” so | cicnt mean to imply that diminished chords go their name from sounding unstable, 1 + Reply + Shax hspshww frajam,comid minishod-gitar-chords Hl ans2ran016 Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play Athinkerman + ))808e0her : (Oops, sorry, Iwas referring to the Youtube video, which doesn't refer to the flattened Sth in the context of explaining the name. "To diminish something means to lessen it Diminished chords have an unstable sound, which can be described as lessening or destabilizing...” Anyway, small point. Really great lessons. | know | willbe back over and over. + Reply + Sha gy Mis Bentam os A ‘An, gotcha, No that's a valid point you raised. | thik | was trying a bit too hard to make a connection between the name and quality/sound ofthe chord! Glad the lessons have helped you anyway. Loads more tocome. unikomjoe . Does anyone know if you can combine @ major Sth with a diminished 7th chord? C dim maj7is a legitimate chord (-b3-b6-7), meaning that you can combine an unaltered diminished Sth with a major 7th But how about the reverse, C maj dim? (1-3-5-bb7)? Ifthe Sth is present, then this would simply be C6, Ifrot, however, by ‘common terminology the chord name needs the Tth in order to be able to omit the Sth Example: Gsus2 maj dim7 = 1-245)-bb7 = G-A-(D)-boF# or G-A-(D}-bF. Omitting the D, you have enharmonically G-ALE, the fs chord used in Led Zeppelin's Babe m Gonna Leave You. If you cannot combine a major Sth with aciminished 7th, then the chord must be named ether Emy(bb8) or A7(omt 3). ike Beatham os 0 . ‘Sorry forthe (very late reply! just Keep it simple and call it Gsus2add8. | don't make the "rules" but bb7 has become the norm fer a major Sth ina diminished chord. Ift were up to me I'd just keep it consistent Reply + Shay 1 tomioe ose Thanks, Mike, But 1. Gsus2adds is a burdensome way to say GBsus? (ie., “add is normally only used with Tths & above), 2. However, "Gsus2add6" & "Gésus2" each requires a fith n his case @ “D” Many old schoolers wil argue that the chord name needs to begin withthe base letter, unless indicating a diferent base with a, Because computers are used for virualy everything today including raring photos of chords, however, the frstttr-base rue is commonly ignored (ie. "isnot a vald fie or photo-narring character) Consequenty, I beleve that G-A-E can only be writen as Gésus2(omit 5), Em(bbs), or A7(omi 3), unless the answer to my question is a "yes." Of the three, Em(b5) appeals to me as the best way (2, 1 least #of characters, 2 "bbS" is already commonly used, & 3 - avoids the sloppy “omit x" annotation) Would be aesthetically neater or less busy to call the chord GMsus2"7, Unfortunately, | have not been able to find ‘case of combining a major Sth with a diminished 7th chord anywhere, Joe + Reply + Shae eg Basan os A Ho: : | agree Gésus2 is a better way of writing GsusZadd6 (sory adding the 6th a habit of mine). But you don't need to write “om 5%, because its very common to omit the 5 anyway. For example, a dominant 13th chord realy only needs the 1 3 7 and 13, even though itimplies the fullstack of 1 35b7 911 13. “The whole point of omitting the Sthis simply because I's a neutral chord tone and, forthe sake of economy, ‘we can therefore omitit without detracting from the overall voicing ofthe chord | think you haven't been able to find a case of combining a Sth witha dim? because when the Sth is Perfectimajor, the bb7 becomes a 6 by default. GBsus2 makes the most sense to me. hspshww frajam,comid minighod-gtar-chords Hl sais2ran016 Jeff Dumas. WBE crear ' Ksipesh noise A Sart. aay is Beanan os + aa is Benen os + Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play Just keep it structurally simple, based on that G root Ignore the omited Sth, + Reply + Shay | thing I was overlooking that a diminished 7th by defniton must include a b9. But then again, a minor 7th by defivtion must include a b3 as well, yet AM? is legitimate, Go figure, | have always been under the impression thatthe Sth is only optional for ths & above, that standard iiads ‘must include the root, 3, & Sth (unless altered as in “omit 5"), This restriction fs why lhaver't been able to ‘wrap my arms around wring Gésus2 for a chord that has no D. Ifyou know that Sths can be omited for non extended chores, would you by chance have a knowledge source? My son is a music professor at UCLA, though he has litle expertise in lead sheet notation theory. Stil, | asked him this question & he was ofthe same belie that | am, Really enjoy this thread, Mike. Looking forward to your reply. Joo fom 1.20 Hey Joe, | think it depends on whether there is a specific musical purpose for omitting the Sth. If there i, then yes i would be useful to expressly state “omit 1, however, there is no real musical purpose for omitting the Sth, then there's no need to write. Leave it ‘pen to interpretation by he individual musician (who may omit the § or nol, or even extend the chor) | st think writing the chord based on its structural intent is important - Le. f you intend the bass to be on G, then G6sus2 (whether omit or not) most clearly communicates this intention Of course, musicians write chords diferent. | would just ask they consider two things when writing chords 1) The harmonic purpose of the chord and how open to interpretation they want it tobe (which determines any expressly wrlten omissions or extensions). 2) The structural intont ofthe chord (whether the bass should be in the root ar an inversion should be used). ‘That's how see i, anyway. Thanks for the thought provoking discussion 169 Mifomios oa « 2yeasax Great explanation, Mike. From this discussion | am now laaing toward A7(omit 3), explained below. Led Zepplein's "Babe fm Gonna Leave You! leads off with "-0-2-2-x-8" or "A-E-A-G" in Ines 2-6 & is ‘employed Iberaly throughout the piece. A7(omit 3) flows your point 2 above, ap MoI toe Pe ‘Aftertnought. AMin7 is actually writen as A7; perhaps this naming protocol was adapted to avoid confusion such as mine (.e., why ifs okay to raise the third a senvtone when combining major & minor segments but not when dealing wth diminished chords) Yes that makes sense. There may also be potential confusion between AMm7 and AmM? (A minor with a mayor 7), Reply » Sha apshww frejam,comid minished-gtar-chords Hl na2rano16 Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play 1p Besta tos aiopen yee To cla, diminished only refers to the bS when there's @b3. So ifs a minor chord with @bS. A major chord with abS is simply called a major BS chord. I might also sometimes be called a major #4 chord (BS and #4 are enharmonic). gi on a se oetem : Many than to you Mike. Your site is great. Thanks a ton for puting this site up. ely » She Poh soon NEBL coring tts teary Diirshed chor i formed oto he ata & Sth notes ofa pacar major sale, fm geting ‘rouble n soring out hs because my nsuctor taught me hat Ginshe chord nas Ys, BS & HON notes oF a mar scaleFor exam et me take B omnshed cher: eer tothe theory Ril have the noes, D & Fado my stuctor words twit have B, D2, F & Gk Again ancther char diagram which happen to downoad shows B,D, F& GH which think are the Ya, rd, BSh& BUT noes of B major scale, Fn very confused whch coet? Please hel me, (the dagrarn making abouts below) AM cnsnodcnrés ays have arn not ma, yours as taigt you dod chard havea major adhe wrong, Alo, ea gh you8 Gntished Mh haste nots BO, F& hee wrong alo, eu Be D not. endo nave minor realm the ot (covered a ot of he leon nine chord ney) Please refer tothe table a the top of the page which shows you the three main types of diminished chord, Everything you need to know about diminished chords is covered inthis lesson, + Reply = Shar Brandon Torres - 3 ysis 20: WEBBA swing on apying tis kind of chords to some acoustic rook ey» Back to Top Related Lesson ‘Augmented Guitar Chords Subscribe - Help - Donate - About Contact - Site Polis apshww frajam,comid minishod-gtar-cherds Hl2ran016 Be Yoursett On Guitar. napskww frjam,comid minishod-gtar-chords Hm Diminished Guitar Chords - How & When ta Play By Mane bam Copyight © 2016 team.com