Estimated reading time 3 minutes
Table of Contents
Introduction
What are these evil sounding chords? Diminished triads have a tense, sinister quality that’s perfect for suspense and horror film scores. Keep reading to learn how to build evil diminished chords.
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How to Build Diminished Chords: What Are They?
Mobile users: for best results reading the examples, rotate your screen 90o to the right.
A diminished triad has a cluster of three tones that’s normally played as a group.
- The three notes are the root, 3rd, and 5th, and it gets its name from the root note.
- For instance, B diminished (Bo) has B as the root note.
- Plus, the notes D and F are the 3rd and 5th of the triad. The D is three notes up from the root and the F is five notes up from the root.
How to Build Diminished Chords: How Do You Make Them?
You’ll build them using intervals – specifically half steps. A half step is the distance from one key to the very next key whether the key is black or white.
Look at the keyboard illustration above and find the notes of the Bo triad.
- The three half steps (i.e., semitones) between the B and D is a minor (or small) 3rd.
- Likewise, D and F is also a minor 3rd.
- When you stack two minor 3rds, they equal a diminished 5th containing six half steps. This gives the triad both its name and its tense sound quality.
You can assemble any diminished triad by stacking two minor thirds. Moreover, it’s possible to invert them for further options as you compose.
How to Build Diminished Chords: The Table of Triads
Here are the twelve diminished triads using their simplest spellings (i.e., spellings that exclude double sharps/double flats).
- Bo = B D F
- Co = C Eb Gb
- C#o = C# E G
- Do = D F Ab
- D#o = D# F# A
- Eo = E G Bb
- Fo = F Ab Cb (Cb = B)
- F#o = F# A C
- Go = G Bb Db
- G#o = G# B D
- Ao = A C Eb
- A#o = A# C# E
- Bo = B D F
All the triads in the table above are constructed using the same interval structure as the Bo triad in the previous section.
For more on chords:
Final Thoughts
Takeaway points:
- You construct diminished chords using intervals.
- Intervals number the keys on the keyboard in half steps.
- Half steps measure the distance between adjacent black and white keys.
Related Posts
- How to Build Happy Major Chords
- How to Build Mysterious Minor Chords
- An Easy How to Guide for Understanding Triads
© 2026 Geoffrey Keith
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