Fretboard
Chord Identifier & Player

G♯dim chord

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

G♯dimDiminished
G♯ · B · D · B · BR ♭3 ♭5also
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Ways to play G♯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 G♯dim

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

NoteFormulaInterval from G♯
G♯1Root
B♭3Minor 3rd
D♭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 G♯dim

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

KeyG♯dim is the
F♯ minorii°
A majorvii°
A minor (harmonic)vii°

Progressions to try

vii°–I in A major

  1. G♯dim
  2. A

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

I–♯i°–ii in G major

  1. G
  2. G♯dim
  3. Am

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

Other chords on G♯:

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