What are diminished Chords? Diminished chords are used to add more colour or texture to chord progressions in a song. The sound of diminished chords helps to build different flavours in a song – tension, drama, suspense depending how the artist uses them.
Construction of a Diminished Chord
A diminished chord is constructed from a major chord. So basically a diminished chord is a triad i.e. 3 notes played together – 1st (Root Note), 3rd (Flattened) and 5th (Flattened) note. So let us construct C Diminished ( C Dim) chord using the C major Chord ( C E G notes)
- 1st Note : C (Root Note)
- 3rd Note : Eb
- 5th Note : Gb
So C Diminished chord notes are C, Eb and Gb. Similarly we can construct the rest of the diminished chords. They are given below:
C dim : C – Eb – Gb
C# dim : C# – E – G
Db dim : Db – E – G
D dim : D – F – Ab
Eb dim : Eb – Gb – A
E dim : E – G – Bb
F dim : F – Ab – B
F# dim : F# – A – C
Gb dim : Gb – A – C
G dim : G – Bb – Db
Ab dim : Ab – B – D
A dim : A – C – Eb
Bb dim : Bb – Db – E
B dim : B – D – F
Construction of a Diminished Seventh Chord
A diminished seventh chord is a four note chord. It adds a minor third on top of Diminished chord.
- 1st Note – Root Note
- 2nd Note – 3rd Note flattened – Eb
- 3rd Note – 5th Note flattened – Gb
- 4th Note – Minor Third – A
So using the above formula let us a construct C Diminished Seventh (C Dim7 chord)
- 1st (Root Note) – C
- 2nd Note – Eb
- 3rd Note – Gb
- 4th Note – A (also written as Bbb)
So the C Dim7 chord consists of C, Eb, Gb, A. Similarly we can construct the rest of dim7 chords. Given below is ready reckoner of same.
C dim7 : C – Eb – Gb – A
C# dim7 : C# – E – G – Bb
Db dim7 : Db – Fb – G – Bb (or) Db – Fb – Abb – Cbb
D dim7 : D – F – Ab – Cb
Eb dim7 : Eb – Gb – Bbb – Dbb
E dim7 : E – G – Bb – Db
F dim7 : F – Ab – B – Ebb
F# dim7 : F# – A – C – Eb
Gb dim7 : Gb – A – C – Eb
G dim7 : G – Bb – Db – Fb
Ab dim7 : Ab – B – D – Gbb
A dim7 : A – C – Eb – Gb
Bb dim7 : Bb – Db – E – A
B dim7 : B – D – F – Ab
Construction of a Half Diminished Seventh Chord
Like Diminished 7th chords, half diminished 7th chord are also 4 note chords. The 4 notes are;
- Root Note
- Minor 3rd
- Diminished 5th
- Minor 7th
Using Diminished Chords
Generally diminished chords are not used at the beginning or towards end, but they are using as passing chords in a chord progression. This effect of using diminished chords as passing chords gives a special texture (or colour or feel) to the song. These chords spice up the whole progression and mere usage of major or minor gives the same sound. More over the passing chord may not be on the same key of the song. This creates a dissonant sound that has to resolved to the chord harmonically related to the key of the song.
