Abdim — Ab diminished chord

Root, minor third and diminished fifth: two stacked minor thirds. The chord built on the seventh degree of a major scale.

1 = Ab
b3 = Cb
b5 = Ebb

Symbol: Abdim
Root: Ab
Quality: Diminished
Family: triad
Notes: Ab Cb Ebb
Degree formula: 1 b3 b5
Semitones from the root: 0 3 6
Distinct pitch classes: 3
Interval structure: Stacked from the root: 3 semitones, 3 semitones
Notation: Written dim or with a degree sign, for example Cdim or Co.
Key: Ab · Ab major / F minor key signature

Formula

The chord tones in order from the root, with the interval each one forms above it.

Degree	Note	Semitones	Interval from the root
1	Ab	0	Perfect unison
b3	Cb	3	Minor third
b5	Ebb	6	Tritone

Degree

Note

Semitones

Interval from the root

Perfect unison

Minor third

Ebb

Tritone

Inversions

An inversion is the same set of notes with a different one in the bass. The last column gives the distance of each note above the bass note, in semitones.

Inversion	Bass note	Degree in the bass	Notes above the bass	Semitones above the bass
root position	Ab	1	Ab – Cb – Ebb	0 3 6
first inversion	Cb	b3	Cb – Ebb – Ab	0 3 9
second inversion	Ebb	b5	Ebb – Ab – Cb	0 6 9

Inversion

Bass note

Degree in the bass

Notes above the bass

Semitones above the bass

root position

Ab – Cb – Ebb

0 3 6

first inversion

Cb – Ebb – Ab

0 3 9

second inversion

Ebb

Ebb – Ab – Cb

0 6 9

Playable voicings

These shapes were found by searching the fretboard of a standard-tuned guitar (E A D G B E) rather than copied from a chord book. The search allows every string to sound or to be muted, rejects any shape with a muted string between two sounding strings, rejects any shape whose fretted notes span more than four frets (a five-fret window), requires every chord tone to be present, and then sorts what remains with root-position shapes first and the most compact, lowest shapes next. The shapes shown are the first six of that ordering; other orderings are possible at the same frets.

#	Shape (low string first)	Notes	Degrees	Bass	Span (frets)	Sounding strings
1	4-5-6-4-3-4 (6→1)	Ab D Ab B D Ab	1 b5 1 b3 b5 1	Ab	3	6
2	4-2-0-1-0-4 (6→1)	Ab B D Ab B Ab	1 b3 b5 1 b3 1	Ab	4	6
3	4-2-0-1-3-4 (6→1)	Ab B D Ab D Ab	1 b3 b5 1 b5 1	Ab	4	6
4	4-2-0-4-0-4 (6→1)	Ab B D B B Ab	1 b3 b5 b3 b3 1	Ab	4	6
5	4-2-0-4-3-4 (6→1)	Ab B D B D Ab	1 b3 b5 b3 b5 1	Ab	4	6
6	4-2-6-4-3-4 (6→1)	Ab B Ab B D Ab	1 b3 1 b3 b5 1	Ab	4	6

Shape numbers run from the lowest string to the highest, so the left-hand number is the sixth string (low E) in standard tuning. Multiple shapes are listed because a chord can be voiced several ways, and because a lower position is not always the better sounding one.

Related chords and scales

KeyEverything in Abscale, chords and neck map for this root
ScaleAb diminished (whole-half)the scale this chord comes from

Everything in Ab · All chords

KeyKey of AbAb Bb C Db Eb F G · Ab major / F minor
ScaleAb diminished (whole-half)8 notes · 1 2 b3 4 b5 b6 6 7
ChordAbaug — Augmented1 3 #5 · Ab C E
ChordAb — Major1 3 5 · Ab C Eb
ChordAbm — Minor1 b3 5 · Ab Cb Eb
DegreesAb — degree mapAb major and natural minor · frets 0–22
Neck mapAb — note mapAb major · frets 0–22 · Ab Bb C Db Eb F G
ScaleAb aeolian7 notes · 1 2 b3 4 5 b6 b7

Everything in this key: Ab · Chords · Theory Atlas