Triads
D diminished chord
Tense and unstable — it usually wants to resolve up by a half step.
Ddim is the vii° chord in E♭ major. In minor keys: ii° in C minor.
- Notes
- DFA♭
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th
How to play Ddim
About the D diminished chord
Playing it
On guitar, Ddim has an open-position shape, xx0131, using three fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E and A strings.
On piano, Ddim has one black key (A♭) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual Ddim shape is 7545, using four fingers.
