Diminished 7th chords can be an enjoyable challenge to play because they require your fingers to navigate across the fretboard quickly, yet only contain three four-note shapes.
One unique characteristic of diminished chords is that they move in minor third intervals. If you move a diminished shape up or down three frets on the fretboard by three frets, it will result in another inversion of that chord shape.
Root Notes
The root note of a chord is the initial note you play when creating it, serving as a foundation on which to build the remaining notes. Subsequent notes will then add fullness or tension by accentuating or subtracting from its root note. Furthermore, its significance lies in how you interpret its interpretation – for instance if inverted it could be considered another type of chord and having another tone added as bass note would change its interpretation even further.
As part of learning diminished 7th chord guitar, it is vitally important that you understand the root note. Doing so will enable a deeper insight into how it works and can assist in its construction. Root notes are usually indicated with an “x”, signifying that no part of that chord should be played by your right hand in order to avoid disrupting its sound quality.
Drop 2 voicings provide one method for creating diminished 7th chords on guitar, making them more accessible and easier to play for new guitarists. They work by shifting the second highest note of four-note chords down one string; leaving all other notes unaffected on higher strings – great way of making diminished 7ths more accessible!
One way of creating diminished 7th chords on guitar is using standard dominant quality chord shapes, making this method ideal for beginners who need to learn how to play their current key and use these diminished chords as passing chords in a progression. Passing chords add texture by offering dissonant sounds which must eventually resolve to chords harmonically related to their key of song.
Tritones
Tritones are among the most dissonant intervals in music, creating tension and conflict when played. Therefore, tritones are used widely in dramatic and unsettling music composition such as horror movie soundtracks where composers use tritones to build tension for impending deaths or disaster.
Tritones have long been considered “diabolus in musica”, or the devil in music, due to their unsettling sounds. Medieval church authorities dubbed these chords the diabolus in musica due to their use of dissonance; many early modern musicians avoided using them due to the unsettling effect they have on listeners.
Tritone intervals, such as between F and B, can be broken into three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). Tritones can add instability to diminished chords by creating tension that gives these chords their characteristic sound.
Diminished 7th chords can be an exceptionally flexible chord choice when it comes to their voicings, with just the move of one fret (3 frets on guitar) creating different sounds. A Gdim7 may become either a Bb dim7 or E dim7 depending on which notes are played; making your chords sound even more unique and interesting!
Similar techniques can also be applied to dominant chords: by moving the diminished seventh shape up one major third (2 frets on guitar) you can create four distinct dominant chords! This technique adds variety and depth to your chord progressions as well as create interesting effects in music.
Next time you want to add drama and tension in your playing, try using a diminished 7th chord! Just bear in mind that these chords may initially be difficult for listeners due to their distinct and disconcerting sound; but with practice and understanding how best to implement these chords into your music compositions, diminished 7ths can become invaluable tools for creating drama and conflict within music pieces.
Passing Chord
Diminished seventh chords can be used as passing chords or to connect other chords in a progression, making them popular choices in jazz as well as blues, country/Texas swing, rock ‘n roll, jump and jive and other musical forms. Also referred to as bIIIdim7 (descending) or #IIdim7 (ascending), diminished seventh chords add tension that must be resolved for creating musical energy and giving the music some energy.
Due to all minor thirds making up a diminished chord, its intervals are symmetrical. To invert it, simply push that shape three frets higher up on the neck – this changes both its form and inversion!
An easy way to create different variations of diminished chords is by finding two chords one whole step apart and building the diminished chord on their note between. For instance, starting with a C diminished chord and moving it up the neck until fret four will produce both a C major diminished chord as well as D major diminished chord.
Reduced chords can be used as an alternative to dominant chords, though they’re usually only employed as passing chords due to being less stable than a dominant chord and occurring only briefly within chord progressions – thus their moniker ‘diminished passing chords’.
Decreased chords can add depth and dynamism to other chords, creating more interesting sounds. For instance, adding one between an A and E chord gives it depth, creating an exciting tension-filled progressions.
Diminished chords are among the most useful and distinctive types of chords you will encounter on your guitar-playing journey, becoming invaluable assets to your repertoire of chords that you will use across various musical genres.
Resolving Chord
When it comes to diminished 7th chords, there are a few key concepts you need to keep in mind in order to maximize their use. First and foremost is their symmetricality; consisting of both a diminished triad and diminished seventh interval notes, they make for great options when filling out chord progressions with notes that echo other dominant chords; they may even serve as replacements for secondary dominants in certain keys.
Second, be mindful that these chords have a tendency to resolve up into the tonic triad due to the presence of three passing chords discussed above. In particular, tritones at scale degrees 77 and 44 as well as between scale degrees 66 and 55 have inward tendencies that tend to collapse into major thirds; similarly, tritones between scale degrees 22 and 33 tend to move down half steps into major sixths.
Before playing passing diminished seventh chords, it’s essential to carefully consider their voice before beginning. There are three standard ways of doing so and each has different sonic characteristics; which you choose will depend on both the context of the chord as well as your resolution goals.
Resolution for passing diminished seventh chords can often be found by moving it down towards the root of its tonic chord, providing a smooth transition from tension-filled chords to their eventual release. But there are other possibilities you should explore as well; perhaps using a different resolution scheme altogether.
Another viable approach is using half-diminished seventh chords to resolve to minor triads, much like how fully diminished sevenths do. But unlike its fully diminished cousin, half-diminished chords don’t collapse into major thirds as readily – meaning you may be able to create more interesting progressions using this technique than with fully diminished sevenths.