Learn Acoustic Guitar

Diminished chords are strange type of guitar chord that can add an extra dimension to your guitar playing without the need for a lot of practice.

Diminished chords have a sound similar to a lot of the Beatles music during the Sgt Pepper era. It’s almost like a strange drugged out type of sound.

Diminished Chords

Diminished chords are strange chord indeed.  To begin with there are only 3 of them. Have a look at the diagram below. This is the C diminished chord shape. It is also D# diminished, A diminished and F# diminished.

 

Diminished chords can be named after any of the notes in the chord. There are four notes in each diminished chord, so each chord can be called 4 different names.

There are also no open strings in the chord so you can use the diminished chord shape in the same way as a barre chord.

If you move the diminished chord shape up one fret it becomes E diminished, Bb diminished, C# diminished or G diminished.

If you move it up another fret it will be F diminished, B diminished, D diminished, Ab diminished.

Moving one more fret it will be Eb diminished, A diminished, C diminished, F# diminished. These are same notes from the first chord shape. Diminished chords repeat themselves every 3 frets

If you want to learn exactly when to use diminished chords check out this detailed post on our sister site – diminished chords

Filed under: Learn Guitar Chords