Diminished Chords
Diminished chords are made up of four notes and are a "mysterious" sounding result of the major scale in chords. The diminished chord is the 7th step of the major scale, so for instance:
C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
Chords in the key of Cmajor: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C
That diminished b chord is made up of the notes B, D, G# and F. It can be shifted up or down by three frets, and you will have the same notes but in a different order, i.e. with a different note as the root, but all of the same notes in total. Going through this process, sliding up or down three frets continuously produces an eerie kind of sound as in a scooby-doo cartoon.
You will find that you can move up four times and then you will be back to the first shape you played, but one octave up. This is because you are moving up by 3 frets, and there are twelve chromatic tones in an octave. (12/3 =4).
Furthermore, that diminished shape can take on any one of 4 names (typically but not necessarily you would name it after the lowest note). So a diminished b could also be called a G# diminished, a D diminished or an F diminished.
This implies that the same chord can be used in four different major keys, and therefore 4 different minor keys. Remember that:
1.) every major scale has a relative minor scale that uses (nearly) all the same notes
2.) every major chord has a relative minor chord that uses (nearly) all the same notes
3.) every major key has a relative minor key that uses all the same chords
So, does this diminished chord somehow tie together it's "keys-in-common"? Why don't you find out? Try switching between chords that you would normally not play together, because they are in different keys. So switch between an E and a C#. You get a kind of an "enlightening" feel or one of revelation. Useful for setting the mood or perhaps switching between keys perhaps?
Have fun and see what kind of effects you can get. Ideas to play with might include switching in an alternating fashion between a diminished chord and any of it's parent major and minor keys.
This article has been updated with the information below:
Drawing a cross in your circle of fifths will connect up four notes. These four notes constitute a diminished chord. This diminished chord is part of four major and minor keys. The keys that this chord is a part of are found by simply rotating your cross one place clockwise. Likewise, if you want to know how to form the diminished chord for a key, simply draw a cross with one arm pointing to that key, rotate one place anti-clockwise and the cross will point to the correct four notes.
Furthermore, the phrygian mode for a key is at a right angle to the diminished chord for that key. This implies that there is some relationship between relative major and minor scales or keys and the phrygian scale and diminished chords. It seems to be that a diminished scale in a particular key shares all the same notes as a phrygian scale. Likewise, it would seem to be that somehow the second degree of a major scale in chords (so for instance Dminor in the key of C major) has some relationship to the C myxolydian scale, as they too are at right angles to one another.
This is gong to be clarified and expanded upon over time. But feel free to experiment with these relationships for yourself and see what you can find.
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C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C
Chords in the key of Cmajor: C, Dm, Em, F, G, Am, Bdim, C
That diminished b chord is made up of the notes B, D, G# and F. It can be shifted up or down by three frets, and you will have the same notes but in a different order, i.e. with a different note as the root, but all of the same notes in total. Going through this process, sliding up or down three frets continuously produces an eerie kind of sound as in a scooby-doo cartoon.
You will find that you can move up four times and then you will be back to the first shape you played, but one octave up. This is because you are moving up by 3 frets, and there are twelve chromatic tones in an octave. (12/3 =4).
Furthermore, that diminished shape can take on any one of 4 names (typically but not necessarily you would name it after the lowest note). So a diminished b could also be called a G# diminished, a D diminished or an F diminished.
This implies that the same chord can be used in four different major keys, and therefore 4 different minor keys. Remember that:
1.) every major scale has a relative minor scale that uses (nearly) all the same notes
2.) every major chord has a relative minor chord that uses (nearly) all the same notes
3.) every major key has a relative minor key that uses all the same chords
So, does this diminished chord somehow tie together it's "keys-in-common"? Why don't you find out? Try switching between chords that you would normally not play together, because they are in different keys. So switch between an E and a C#. You get a kind of an "enlightening" feel or one of revelation. Useful for setting the mood or perhaps switching between keys perhaps?
Have fun and see what kind of effects you can get. Ideas to play with might include switching in an alternating fashion between a diminished chord and any of it's parent major and minor keys.
This article has been updated with the information below:
Drawing a cross in your circle of fifths will connect up four notes. These four notes constitute a diminished chord. This diminished chord is part of four major and minor keys. The keys that this chord is a part of are found by simply rotating your cross one place clockwise. Likewise, if you want to know how to form the diminished chord for a key, simply draw a cross with one arm pointing to that key, rotate one place anti-clockwise and the cross will point to the correct four notes.
Furthermore, the phrygian mode for a key is at a right angle to the diminished chord for that key. This implies that there is some relationship between relative major and minor scales or keys and the phrygian scale and diminished chords. It seems to be that a diminished scale in a particular key shares all the same notes as a phrygian scale. Likewise, it would seem to be that somehow the second degree of a major scale in chords (so for instance Dminor in the key of C major) has some relationship to the C myxolydian scale, as they too are at right angles to one another.
This is gong to be clarified and expanded upon over time. But feel free to experiment with these relationships for yourself and see what you can find.
Back to Stages of Mastering the Guitar
