Fretboard
Chord Identifier & Player

A♯dim chord

A♯ diminished. The notes are A♯, C♯ and E. Also written B♭dim. Four ways to play it are below the neck.

A♯dimDiminished
A♯ · E · A♯ · C♯ · ER ♭5 ♭3also
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Ways to play A♯dim

Open position first, then up the neck. Tap a shape to put it on the fretboard above and hear it. The numbers are fingers (1 is your index), × means leave that string out, and ○ means let it ring open.

What's in A♯dim

A diminished triad stacks two minor 3rds: root, minor 3rd and flat 5th. A♯dim is A♯, C♯, E. The root and ♭5 are a tritone apart, the same interval that drives a dominant 7th.

NoteFormulaInterval from A♯
A♯1Root
C♯♭3Minor 3rd
E♭5Diminished 5th

Tight and unsettled, and it rarely stays put. It is the vii° chord of a major key, and as a passing chord it bridges two chords a whole step apart.

Keys that use A♯dim

Every major and minor key whose scale contains all of A♯, C♯ and E, and the chord's Roman numeral in each. Minor keys marked harmonic get the chord from the raised 7th of the harmonic minor scale.

KeyA♯dim is the
G♯ minorii°
B majorvii°
B minor (harmonic)vii°

Progressions to try

vii°–I in B major

  1. A♯dim
  2. B

A diminished triad wants to rise a half step to the chord above it.

I–♯i°–ii in A major

  1. A
  2. A♯dim
  3. Bm

As a passing chord, the bass climbs one half step at a time between two chords a whole step apart.

Other chords on A♯:

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