The Amazing Diminished 7th Chords!

http://www.playpiano.com Diminished 7th chords are magical, because you can do so many different things with them, and there are only 3, so you can learn them fast! Come on over to http://www.playpiano.com and sign up for our free newsletter by email on piano chords and chord progressions if you like this kind of thing and want to learn more.

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[chordsgalore]

Yes, I wish they were called that, but unfortunately we have to live with the name previous generations have called them. (But there is nothing wrong with you THINKING of them as dim6 chords).

[EthanSares]

That... was... awesome! this video helps me understand diminished 7th chords so much better! Thank you for the clarity and creativity in your teaching. I commend you good sir!

Haha "I won't tell you... okay you get some minor sixth chords"

[SilverHammond]

@moredoughnuts01 Since long ago I have been seeing Cdim6 as a notation for these type of chords. In one book some days ago I actually saw the following:

Cm6 b5

(C minor 6 flattened 5)

I'm not a music guru, and don't know which notation applies in which type of song. I gather that it has something to do with the key the song is in; for example, when playing in F#, you will (probably) never see a chord written as Gb, even while it is the exact same one.

[jonlipshaw]

Thanks that helped me alot!

[PlushieClock]

Ha, ha, goodness....You play awesome! You really helped me learn a lot about this seemingly hard color that is frequently put into songs. I'm into music theory and I understand simple chord progressions such as, major, minor, and sevenths. But I could never understand diminished and augmented chords until now. Again, thank you sooooo much!

[moredoughnuts01]

@moze1390 Ha! I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble. I misunderstood your comment. Yes, dominant chords a tritone apart share the same inner tritone, but in inversion. I'm sorry for all the trouble, sir.

[moze1390]

@moredoughnuts01 lol i know the difference between a dominant 7 and a diminished 7. I think you got my question wrong. I wasn't asking about dim chords(even though the video is on dim chords). If you reread my first comment you'll see that I was just trying to link the relationship to tritones. Again, I think tritones are pulled from dominant 7 chords (3rd and b7th) so looking at tritones from this perspective, would a tritone fromed from D7 be the same as one from Ab7?

[moredoughnuts01]

@valvetrom What I meant was that if it is spelled C,Eb,Gb,A, then you have a Cdim6 chord because A is the sixth degree of C. If you have C,Eb,Gb,Bbb, then it is C fully Diminished. I know a lot of people disregard the spelling of certain chords because they think that it is confusing or pointless otherwise, but if you are studying someone else's score, then difference in a Cdim6 and C fully diminished is (potentially) very important in the area of function. I see your point, though.

[moredoughnuts01]

@moze1390 In a way. Ultimately, there are only three different fully-diminished chords, each with four inversions, like I'm near certain he mentions in this video (if not, another). So when you mention a D7 chord and an Ab7 chord, (IF you mean Ddim and Abdim) then, yes, they are inversions of eachother, the other two being Fdim and Cbdim.

[valvetrom]

I never heard of a diminished 6 chord. Lets say we are in a tune in G minor, then I play the chord c eb f# a resolves into bb d g ( and g ) Is this now a C dim or

a C dim 6.? I don't want to go into double flats. Its for the pundits. I simply write Co

We all know the sound we want. But there are scholars. Thank you for the light.

[moze1390]

@moredoughnuts01 Thanks for the explanation. I understand that they are so named because of the three equidistant tones as you pointed out. My argument, however, is that to the best of my understanding tritones are formed from dominant 7 chords using the third degree and the flatted 7th. Looking at tritones from this perspective, then a tritone formed from a D 7 chord would be an inversion of a tritone formed from an Ab 7 chord right?