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How to Play Diminished 7th chords The diminished 7th chord is used a lot in jazz music but also in pop music you keep bumping into them. Songs like “Michelle” by the Beatles, “Who says” by John Mayer, “Friends in low places” by Garth Brooks, “Road trippin'” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, “My sweet lord” by George Harrison and “God only knows” by The Beach Boys are just a few of many popular compositions using diminished chords.

Diminished chords are considered “dissonant” because of their tonal instability. They create a sense of tension and drama, and have a strong drive toward tonal resolution, meaning that, they want to move to a more final and stable sound (consonance). This is why they are often used in music, they can make a song more captivating, stirring, and charismatic.

The Dim Chords
There are different types of diminished chords: There is the diminished (dim) chord, the half diminished chord (m7♭5) and the diminished 7th chord (dim7). The diminished chord itself is not used very often, the half diminished and diminished 7th chord are more commonly used.

Dim Chord Analysis
Compared to a minor chord (1 – ♭3 – 5), the diminished chord has a flat 5th (♭5), the half diminished chord adds a flatted 7th (♭7) on top of that, and the diminished 7th chord adds a double flatted 7th (♭♭7).

Here are the chord formulas:
Major chord = 1 – 3 – 5
Minor chord = 1 – ♭3 – 5
Diminished chord = 1 -♭3 -♭5
Half diminished chord = 1 -♭3 -♭5 -♭7
Diminished 7th chord = 1 -♭3 -♭5 -♭♭7

Let’s take C as the root for example:
C major = C – E – G
C minor = C – E♭ – G
C dim = C – E♭ – G♭
Cm7♭5 (half dim) = C – E♭ – G♭ – B♭
C dim7 = C – E♭ – G♭ – B♭♭ (or simply “A”)

How to Play Diminished 7th Chords
The diminished 7th chord is made up of minor third intervals. That means all the notes are three semitones (3 frets) away from each other. This specific feature of the chord makes it possible to move the chord 3 frets up the fretboard each time and the chord will remain the same.

We start with a dim7 chord shape played on highest four strings. As you can see below from left to right, we move the diminished chord shape 3 frets up each time. Start the chord shape on the 1st fret, then move up to the 4th fret, the 7th fret and finally the 10th fret. Of course, you can move it up as far as you like. Continue Reading

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7th chords are over the place in every style of music.

There is the dominant 7th chord which is the main ingredient for blues and the major 7th chord which you can find a lot in jazz music, but also chords like the minor 7b5 and diminished 7 are part of the jazz chord vocabulary.

Well to be honest, I don’t think there is a 7th chord that you don’t find in jazz music.

The minor 7 and dominant 7 chords are very common in pop music and also the major 7 is not unusual. Today we’ll discuss the most common types of 7th chords in music.

For each 7th chord you can see four examples (see images below). The first two chords on the left are open chord shapes (containing open strings) and the two chords on the right are moveable chord shapes (containing no open strings). The first moveable chord has the root on the low E-string and the second has the root on the A-string. I’ll explain…

A moveable chord can be moved all across the neck and played in every key. For example if you take the Gmaj7 chord (see image below, third chord from the left). The note on the low E-string is your root note. In this example it’s a G note. If you move the entire chord up a half step (1 fret) it becomes a G#maj7 chord. Your root note has now moved up to the 4th fret low E-string which is a G# note. (So if your root note is a G# note that means your chord is G#maj7. Move the entire chord up another half step your root note becomes an A note so your chord becomes Amaj7.

The same applies for the moveable Cmaj7 chord shape (fourth chord from the left). Here the root note is on the A-string. The root note is on the third fret A-string which is a C note, so it’s a Cmaj7 chord. Move the entire chord up a whole step (2 frets) your root note becomes a D note so your chord becomes Dmaj7.

You can do this with all the other moveable chord shapes as well.

Tips:
– Practice and memorize all the common types of 7th chords shown below.
– Play songs with 7th chords to hear and recognize how they are applied.
– Locate the root of the moveable chord shapes and practice them in different keys.

Okay, it’s time to expand your chord vocabulary!

How to Play Captivating Diminished 7th Chords

How to Play The Most Common Types of 7th Chords