Edim

Edim is E, G and Bb, a diminished triad. The shape this page opens on is written xx23x3, lowest string first.

Note by note. E is the root, G is the minor third and Bb is the flat fifth.

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

There are 5 common shapes for Edim on the guitar, and 48 derived voicings in the triad family.

One note away. Change a single note of Edim and you have Em (with one note moved), Edim7 (with one note added), Em7b5 (with one note added), EmMaj7b5 (with one note added), Em/B (with one note moved) or Em/G (with one note moved).

In which keys. Every note of Edim belongs to D minor (the ii°) and F major (the vii°).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: xx23x3, x75x56, x7898x, 12-10-x-12-11-x, x-x-14-15-x-15.

Under the hand. None of the shapes for Edim uses an open string, so every one of them is movable; the lowest sits at the 2nd fret. None of them needs a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 2nd fret to the 15th.

Triad. Three notes across one string set. Edim has 312xxx, x120xx, 0120xx, 3120xx, 3123xx, xx535x, xxx353, xx5353.

Tensions. A shell of Edim, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (A) and the b13 (C).

What kind of chord this is. Edim 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.