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Question
#22
I just used the chord finder on this site to find dim7 chords.
I was surprised to find that many of these chords have several
different names. Here are a couple of the chord formations and
the names I found for them:
xx0101 (Abdim7, Bdim7, Ddim7 and Fdim7)
xx1212 (Adim7, Cdim7, Ebdim7 and Gbdim7)
How can so many names be applied to the same chords? And how
do you know which formation to use when a tab calls for...say,
a Bdim7?
Answer
Diminished 7th chords are symmetrical. That means that if you
look at the basic construction of a diminished 7th chord, you
will see that all of the chord tones are the same space away from
each other. The interval is called a minor 3rd, and a minor 3rd
is equivalent to 3 frets on the guitar.
So a B diminished chord consists of the notes B D F and Ab.
B -- up 3 frets -- D -- up 3 frets -- F -- up 3 frets -- Ab --
up 3 frets -- B
Here are the those notes on the neck of the guitar on the 5th
string.
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-1st
string
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|---|-B-|---|---|-D-|---|---|-F-|---|---|Ab-|---|---|-B-|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-6th
string
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2nd fret 5th fret
8th fret 11th fret 14th fret
Here is one of the basic diminished 7th chord forms.
|---|---|---|---|-1st
string
|---|---|-4-|---|
|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|---|-3-|---|
|---|-2-|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|-6th string
Now take a look at the note names if I play that chord shape starting
on each of those notes. You still just have the notes B D F and
Ab.
<*********>
<*********> <*********> <*********> <*********>
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-1st
|---|---|-D-|---|---|-F-|---|---|Ab-|---|---|-B-|---|---|-D-|
|Ab-|---|---|-B-|---|---|-D-|---|---|-F-|---|---|Ab-|---|---|
|---|---|-F-|---|---|Ab-|---|---|-B-|---|---|-D-|---|---|-F-|
|---|-B-|---|---|-D-|---|---|-F-|---|---|Ab-|---|---|-B-|---|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|-6th
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2nd fret 5th fret
8th fret 11th fret 14th fret
Here are those chords in tablature form.
E:-----------------------
B:--3---6---9---12---15--
G:--1---4---7---10---13--
D:--3---6---9---12---15--
A:--2---5---8---11---14--
E:-----------------------
So a Bdim7, Ddim7, Fdim7, and an Abdim7 all share the same notes.
It just depends on which note within the chord form that you are
thinking of as the root. And the root is not always the lowest
note in a chord form.
Here are the 3 most basic diminished 7th chord forms. If you are
looking to play a Bdim7 chord, just make sure that one of the
notes within the chord form is a B.
|---|---|---|---|-1st
string
|---|---|-4-|---|
|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|---|-3-|---|
|---|-2-|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|-6th string
|---|-4-|---|---|-1st
string
|-2-|---|---|---|
|---|-3-|---|---|
|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|-6th string
You are going to barre you first finger across the 4th, 3rd and
2nd strings for this one.
|---|---|---|---|-1st
string
|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|-3-|---|---|
|-1-|---|---|---|
|---|---|---|---|
|---|-2-|---|---|-6th string
And last.....how do you know which Bdim7 to play if you just see
a chord name referred to? The answer is that there is no way to
tell. You can listen to the song and try and decide from there.
If it is a jazz song, which is where you will typically find diminished
7th chords, then any of them is fair game. That is a big part
of jazz is the ability to any version of a particular chord.
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