Triads
A diminished chord
Tense and unstable — it usually wants to resolve up by a half step.
Adim is the vii° chord in B♭ major. In minor keys: ii° in G minor.
- Notes
- ACE♭
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th
How to play Adim
About the A diminished chord
Playing it
On guitar, Adim has an open-position shape, x0121x, using three fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E and high E strings.
On piano, Adim has one black key (E♭) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual Adim shape is 5353, using four fingers.
