Diminished Chords Explained

Diminished chords generally come in three types but are often surrounded by a lot of confusion.

Diminished = Major triad with the third and fifth flattened i.e. 1 b3 b5

Diminished 7 = Same a s the minor seventh chord with the fifth and seventh flatted. This results in the 7th scale degree having a double flat (which is effectively the same as a sixth but should not be viewed as the sixth) i.e. 1 b3 b5 bb7

Half Diminished = This is also known as the minor 7 flat five (m7b5) and as the name says it's the same as a minor seven chord but with a flat fifth. i.e. 1 b3 b5 b7

When you are unsure what ones to use, the diminished 7 is usually a safe bet as the plain diminished isn't as common and will often work well in place of the diminished traid. The half diminished is much more common to be written as min7b5

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