This week’s Guitar Chord Of The Week is a diminished 7th shape. This particular chord shape is played on the top four strings, and is very easy to play.
An example chord progression is provided at the end of the article, allowing you to try out the chord and hear how it sounds.
Audio examples are also included.
Diminished 7th Guitar Chord – Top 4 Strings
The most commonly used fingering is shown above. Every note of this chord shape can be considered to be the root note: the reason for this is explained later in the lesson.
The chord can also be played using a barre, as shown below.
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Diminished 7th Chords
Diminished 7th chords have a distinctive sound – once you know it, you’ll hear them everywhere. Although they are mainly used in jazz and classical music, diminished 7ths can introduce a completely new sound to rock and pop songs.
Another symbol for a diminished 7th chord is a small circle followed by a ‘7’.
If you play this week’s diminished 7th shape at the 2nd fret, as shown below, it will make a G diminished 7 chord.
However, due to the nature of these chords, it will also be a Bb dim7, a Db dim7 and an E dim7 chord!
If you move the chord 3 frets up (at the 5th fret), you’ll still be be playing either a G dim7, Bb dim7, Db dim7 or an E dim7 chord.
The fact that a single diminished 7th shape can be used to play four chords is just one interesting feature of these chords. You can find out more about diminished 7 chord theory here.
Moving diminished 7th chords upwards in minor 3rd intervals (3 frets on the guitar) is a very common musical effect. It would often be used to signify imminent danger in silent movie scores!
Listen to the audio…
then play it yourself: the chords are shown below. This is a good ‘warm up’ for the main example progression at the end of the article.
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Diminished 7th Chord Progression
Practice playing the diminished 7th chord shape with the example chord progression below. The audio gives you an idea how it might sound.
Conclusion
We hope that you have enjoyed learning about the diminished 7 chord shape, and have been inspired to use it in your own songs and compositions.
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