Diminished chords: what they are and two ways to use them

Upon first listen to a diminished chord, it might be easy to think that it doesn't have many applications in your music. But in actuality, the diminished chord is a common appearance in popular music across many genres and moods.  

While the topic of diminished chords could practically be the focus of an entire book, in this post we’ll take a look at what these chords are and a few ways you can start using them without getting lost in theory.

Common questions about diminished chords

What is a diminished chord?
A diminished chord is a triad made of a root, a minor third, and a diminished fifth. It creates a tense, unstable sound often used for dramatic effect.

How is a diminished chord different from a minor chord?
A minor chord includes a root, minor third, and perfect fifth, while a diminished chord lowers the fifth one semitone, creating a diminished fifth.

When should I use diminished chords in songwriting?
Diminished chords work well as passing chords to add tension or transition between major or minor chords in a progression.

What’s one way to use a diminished chord effectively?
You can place a diminished chord between two diatonically related chords to lead into a resolution—like using B° between C and Am.

Are there different types of diminished chords?
Yes, the most common types are the diminished triad and the fully diminished seventh chord, which adds a double-flatted seventh to the triad.

What is a diminished chord?

A diminished chord is a type of chord that contains a minor 3rd (three half steps above the root) coupled with a diminished 5th (six half steps above the root). It has a distinctive timbre: tense, dark, and unstable sounding. And without context, diminished chords may sound off-putting. But in-context, as we’ll briefly explore, is where they shine.

Diminished chords come in three varieties: diminished triads, diminished 7ths, and half-diminished chords. These chords are used in different contexts, and for the sake of brevity we’re going to take a look at the first two and save half-diminished chords for another discussion.

The diminished triad & 7th chord

Let’s start with a quick overview of the diminished triad. Like all triads, it contains three notes: a root, a third, and a fifth. But what makes triads different from each other is the quality of their constituent intervals: the diminished triad contains a minor third and a diminished 5th.

Diminished triad overview:

Root note

Minor 3rd

Diminished 5th

While the diminished triad is a chord in itself, you can think of it as the common building block used to create its big brothers: diminished 7th and half-diminished chords.

The diminished 7th chord takes up where the diminished triad left off, adding a diminished 7th interval (nine half steps above the root).

Diminished 7th overview:

Root Note

Minor 3rd

Diminished 5th

Diminished 7th

The I-ii bridge

One of the most popular uses for the diminished chord is as a bridge between two other chords. The diminished chord works so well for this purpose because it contains a high amount of tension. This tension gives a sense of release once the progression arrives on its destination chord. Not only that, but the diminished chord creates a stepwise motion in the root notes of the chords—where they move up in half-step increments —which sounds pretty slick and adds a powerful sense of movement to your piece.

As a songwriter, we can take advantage of these properties to make our songs more interesting—let’s see how a few musicians have done it:

One great example of a diminished chord used in this manner is in George Harrison’s classic, “My Sweet Lord.” The song’s main riff starts at about 16 seconds, where the chords alternate between E major (the tonic chord because the song starts in the key of E major) and C# minor (the iv chord, being at E major’s 6th scale degree). At about 26 seconds, the chords change, and you can hear an F diminished chord. This F diminished chord works as a bridge a half step between the E major chord and the F# minor chord.

Hear the tension that is created by the diminished chord, and the release that you feel once the F# minor chord is reached. In fact, the melody even outlines each note in the chord! This change takes the song’s relatively static feel and imbues an emotional gravity that compliments the lyrics of the song.

Another great (and more upbeat) example of this use of the diminished chord is the song “Losing You” by Norwegian indie-pop band Boy Pablo. The song is in F major, and in the first chorus (which starts at 00:51) the songs moves from the F major tonic chord, to Gb diminished (at 00:54 for two bars in this case), to G minor.

Although this song is considerably livelier than “My Sweet Lord,” you can hear a similar emotional gravity from the diminished chord. You can also hear how the lyrics capitalize on the tension of the chord, with the perhaps most poignant phrase of the song “feel like I’m losing you” being sung over it.