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Hello Fellow Musicians,
Today, we are going to be talking about the diminished seventh chord for our next online music school segment. This chord is a powerful tool to use when you are playing the piano. What I like about this chord is that you can use this chord or any diminished chord as a passing tone to get to the 6th which is a minor.
The DIMINISHED SEVENTH chord can be formed by lowering each note of the DOMINANT SEVENTH (V7) chord one half step, except the root, which remains the same.
For example: C dominant 7 chord is: C E G Bb
Every note will be lowered by a half step except for the root note!
IMPORTANT! The interval between each note of a diminished seventh chord is a minor 3rd
Now you'll want to spell each chord correctly!
For example: The Cdim7 chord should not be spelled C E G Bb. The correct way in terms of theory is C Eb Gb Bbb( or A).
Note: If you are lowering a note it becomes a FLAT. If you are raising a note it becomes a sharp.
When you form the Cdim7 chord, it is necessary to flat the note Bb. When a flatted note is flatted again, it becomes a DOUBLE FLAT, indicated by the sign (bb). In this case, the note must be called Bbb, not A. In realty, it is the same thing this is just for the theory aspect.
Note: The formula for this type of chord is 1 b3 b5 bb7 (bb7- repesents double flatted)
Here are the first five chords going chromatically
Cdim7 = C Eb Gb Bbb
C#dim7 = C# E G Bb
Ddim7 = D F Ab Cb
D#dim7 = D# F# A C
Edim7 = E G Bb Db
Fdim7 = F Ab Cb Ebb
Great Tip:The diminished 7th chord can be used as a passing chord to get to the 6th chord which is a minor. There are some great songs with diminished seventh chord in it and that is Worship The Lamb of Glory by Dennis Jernigan.
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