Diminished chords are some of the most often misunderstood chords on guitar. Even diminished chords sound dissonant sound on their own, they make for interesting chords once you understand how they work within a progression.
By the end of this post, you will be able to learn three different diminished chord shapes that you can use starting on the 6th, 5th and 4th string. We will also cover application examples with audio and guitar tabs so you can hear what these diminished chords sound like in a musical context.
We’ll first define what diminished chords are and cover some basic music theory before learning the common chord shapes on guitar. Let’s get started!
What is a diminished chord?
A diminished triad chord consists of the following chord tones: root, flat 3rd and flat 5th. For example, a C diminished triad chord has the notes C, Eb and Gb.
It is important to differentiate between a diminished triad chord and a diminished 7th chord which consists of a root, flat 3rd, flat 5th and a double flatted 7th degree (same as a Major 6th interval). For example, a C diminished 7th chord has the notes C, Eb, Gb, and A.
Diminished triad chord formula
To understand diminished chords, here are some charts to help you visualize the distance between each in note in terms of whole and half steps.
The structure for a diminished triad goes as follows:
Diminished 7th chord formula
And here is the structure for a diminished 7 chord below.
You can also learn more about triads here.
Diminished chords chart
Now that you have a better understanding of the distance between the notes in a diminished chord, here is a chart of all the diminished triad chords starting on every root note.
| Diminished triad chord | 1 | b3 | b5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| C diminished chord | C | Eb | Gb |
| D diminished chord | D | F | Ab |
| E diminished chord | E | G | Bb |
| F diminished chord | F | Ab | B |
| G diminished chord | G | Bb | Db |
| A diminished chord | A | C | Eb |
| B diminished chord | B | D | F |
| Db diminished chord | Db | E | G |
| Eb diminished chord | Eb | Gb | A |
| Gb diminished chord | Gb | A | C |
| Ab diminished chord | Ab | B | D |
| Bb diminished chord | Bb | Db | E |
Here is a chart of all the diminished 7th chords starting on every root note.
| Diminished 7th chord | 1 | b3 | b5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C diminished 7th chord | C | Eb | Gb | A |
| D diminished 7th chord | D | F | Ab | B |
| E diminished 7th chord | E | G | Bb | Db |
| F diminished 7th chord | F | Ab | B | D |
| G diminished 7th chord | G | Bb | Db | E |
| A diminished 7th chord | A | C | Eb | Gb |
| B diminished 7th chord | B | D | F | Ab |
| Db diminished 7th chord | Db | E | G | Bb |
| Eb diminished 7th chord | Eb | Gb | A | C |
| Gb diminished 7th chord | Gb | A | C | Eb |
| Ab diminished 7th chord | Ab | B | D | F |
| Bb diminished 7th chord | Bb | Db | E | G |
Diminished chord mini quiz
See if you can you figure out the chord tones for the following diminished chords without referring to the previous charts.
- G diminished triad
- C# diminished triad
- F# diminished triad
- Bb diminished 7
- D diminished 7
- Eb diminished 7
Diminished chords notation
Some of the common ways to write diminished chords on sheet music are:
For diminished triads: C dim, C˚
For diminished 7 chords: C dim7, C˚7
You might also see and hear a diminished 7 chord as ‘C fully diminished’. This is to contrast another chord called half diminished chord, which I talk about in another other post on the four essential 7th chords.
Diminished chord shapes on guitar
In this section, we will cover common diminished guitar chord shapes starting on a particular string and then show you other chords by shifting the same shape.
Diminished triad chords starting on the 6th string
Diminished chords starting on the 5th string
Diminished chords starting on the 4th string
Diminished 7 chords starting on the 6th string
Diminished 7 chords starting on the 5th string
Diminished 7 chords starting on the 4th string
When to use diminished chords
A common way that diminished chords are used is by functioning as a secondary chord which resolves to another chord in a progression. In other words, a diminished chord can act like a 5 chord that resolves to any chord.
To better understand this, let’s look at all the notes that belong to a diminished chord and compare them to a 5 chord.
In the key of C, the 5 dominant chord is G7 which has the notes: G, B, D and F.
You could substitute the 5 chord for a B diminished 7 chord which has the notes: B, D, F and Ab.
As you can see, there are three common notes between these two chords (B, D, F) and the Ab would be considered a b9 in a G7 chord. This b9 interval gives more tension on the chord which can sound great as it resolves to the next chord.
In short, you can think of B dim 7 as a substitute for G7 (b9).
Diminished chord progression examples
Now, we’ll look at some musical examples to see how diminished chord can be used to resolve to different chords.
Chord progression example 1
The G# dim7 is acting as 5 chord (E7 b9) of the A minor 7 chord.
Chord progression example 2
The F# dim7 is acting as 5 chord (D7 b9) of the G minor 7 chord.
Chord progression example 3
The E dim7 is acting as 5 chord (C7 b9) of the F minor 7 chord.
Chord progression example 4
This is a common jazz progression that goes 2 min – 5(7) – 3 min – 6 (7). However, we substitute both dominant chords with diminished 7 chords in this example/
Diminished 7th chord inversions
Did you know that when shifting a diminished 7 chord by a whole step and a half, you get the same exact notes with different bass notes? This is because the distance from each note is exactly the same.
For example a C diminished 7 chord includes the same notes as an Eb, Gb and A diminished 7 chord.
See and hear the following example which uses the same chord shape to play four other diminished chords containing the same notes.
Since we can play four chord diminished chords using one shape, this brings us to our next point.
How many diminished chords are there?
You can play 12 diminished chords (one for each note of the chromatic scale) but they essentially come from 3 diminished chords. This is because you can invert one diminished chord into four other chords that share the same notes. Technically, that means that you can derive every diminished chord from the C diminished, C# diminished, and D diminished chord when you consider their inversions.
See below to show you what I mean.
C diminished
These are the four chords that you can derive from C diminished when inverting the chord.
- C dim
- Eb dim
- Gb dim
- A dim
C# diminished
These are the four chords that you can derive from C# diminished when inverting the chord.
- C# dim
- E dim
- G dim
- A# dim
D diminished
- D dim
- F dim
- Ab dim
- B dim
Wrapping up
Diminished chords are dissonant chords which sound great as you resolve to other chords within a progression. I recommend reviewing the shapes we covered in this post if you haven’t learned them already.
By experimenting with diminished chords in your chord progressions, you will get a better sense of when it’s best to use them. As you continue to learn them, challenge yourself to play them on different strings as well.
I hope this material has given you better understanding of diminished chords so you can create more interesting chord progressions!
To learn what to play over diminished chords, check out this post on how to play diminished scales on guitar.
Get the free guitar practice guide here!
All the best,
JG
