Diminished chords are simply a type of chord used in songwriting that consists of a coupling of a minor 3rd note with a diminished 5th note. The most used symbol for the diminished chord is a little circle above the letter of the chord: C°. To use a diminished scale over a seventh chord, the diminished scale with a root one semitone higher than the root of the seventh chord is used (e.g. You can substitute a diminished chord for the V chord by using a dominant function. an A flat diminished scale over a G7 chord). For instance, in the key of D major, the V chord is A7, with the notes A-C♯-E-G. Diminished Chord Formula: 1-♭3-♭5 If you want a plain diminished chord, all you have to do is remove the VI note, or learn a movable pattern (just like any other chord… The upper structure of that chord (C♯-E-G) happens to be a C# diminished triad, ao instead of playing A7, try playing a C#dim triad or a C#dim7 chord for a more complex sound. The diminished scale is one of the most useful and versatile tools for jazz improvisers. The diminished seventh chord can come across as scary (and it certainly has its place in horror flicks) but there are actually quite a few usages for it.. But some authors also use the “dim” notation: Cdim. 1) Use a diminished 7 chord as a transition to any 2-chord. Using the substitute, the progression is CMaj7, C#dim7, Dm7, and G7. The most common use of the diminished 7 chord in jazz is to replace the vi chord in the I, vi, ii, V chord progression with the bii dim7 chord. Let me show you an example of how this works by using the Cdim7 chord as an illustration. For example, the I, vi, ii, V chord progression in the key of C is CMaj7, Am7, Dm7, and G7. Each note in the diminished 7th chord can be used as a leading note to a key change. A G7 chord contains the following notes: G, B, D, F. If you construct a diminished chord from its parallel major scale (ex: C dim from the C major scale), you would use the following pattern. Minor 3rds are notes with 3 half steps above their root, and a diminished 5th, which helps derive the name of diminished chords, is a note with 6 half steps above the root. In music, the main use of the diminished chord is to act as a transitional chord for changing between keys in songs. In this post, I want to talk about different ways to use the diminished seventh chord in real-life situations.