Ddim7

Ddim7 is D, F, Ab and Cb, a diminished seventh. The shape this page opens on is written xx0101, lowest string first.

Note by note. D is the root, F is the minor third, Ab is the flat fifth and Cb is the diminished seventh.

Also written D°7, Do7 or D diminished 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 8 common shapes for Ddim7 on the guitar, and 36 derived voicings in 4 families.

One note away. Change a single note of Ddim7 and you have Ddim (with one note taken away), Dm6 (with one note moved), Dm7b5 (with one note moved) or DmMaj7b5 (with one note moved).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: xx0101, xx3434, x56464, xx6767, x-8-0-10-9-7, 10-x-9-10-9-10, 10-11-12-10-12-10, x-x-12-13-12-13.

Under the hand. 1 of the 8 shapes here sits in open position, and the first uses 2 open strings with 2 left unplayed. 2 of the 8 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.

Where it goes. A diminished seventh divides the octave evenly, so Ddim7 has no single root and no single destination: it can lead to G or to Eb, and it is the same four notes either way.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. Ddim7 has xx0464, x5x464, 10-x-9-10-9-x, x-5-9-10-9-x, 10-8-9-13-x-x, 10-14-15-13-x-x.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. Ddim7 has x2313x, xx0101, 1201xx, 4534xx, xx3434, x5646x, xx6767, 7867xx.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. Ddim7 has 1x010x, x2x131, 4x343x, x5x464, 7x676x, x8x797, 10-x-9-10-9-x, x-11-x-10-12-10.

Open string. An open string left ringing against a fretted grip. Because it costs no finger, it sounds a note the closed shape has none left for -- a tension on top, or a pedal root underneath. Either a familiar grip with open strings added, or a shape so sparse the open strings carry the chord. These belong to their key rather than to a shape, so D, A, G and E have many and Eb a handful. Ddim7 has x56460, 453400, 4x3430, 7x6760, 4x3000.

Tensions. A shell of Ddim7, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 9 (E), the 11 (G), the b13 (Bb) and the maj7 (C#).

What kind of chord this is. Ddim7 is a diminished chord — root, minor third, flat fifth. diminished and half-diminished chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.