Diminished Harmony & Concepts

The Diminihsed 7th chord has a symmetrical construction i.e. it is construced by the same interval
consecutively, that interval being a minor 3rd. Because of this symmetry it may appear in various
inversions and with different spellings (note that enharmonic equivalents are often used to
spell out diminished chords for ease of reading)

& œ bœ bœ œ bbw
ww
w
R b3 b5 o7
TT

& œ bœ bœ œ
TT

There are 2 tritones present in a diminished 7th chord, knowing that this interval is the characteristic
trait of a Dom7 chord, a diminished chord can be thought of as containing 4x dom7 chord "traits".
We know that there are 2 tritones ths would equte to 2x dom7 chords, we also know that with
tritone substitution each tritone is present in not 1 but 2 dom7th chords, this is unique to the dim7th
chord and is the reason that diminished harmony is something that can be studied for an extended
time and manipulated in many many ways.

There are 3 main uses in contemporary music when using dminished chords;

1. As a secondary dominant substitute

2. As a descending chromatic appraoch chord
3. As an embellished sound often referred to as an auxiallry diminished

Diminished As A Secondary Dominant Sub

V7/V
V7/II as
as #IVO7
#1O7 ˙˙˙
˙˙˙ # #˙˙˙ nn˙˙˙˙ ˙˙˙ #˙˙˙ nn˙˙˙˙ #˙˙˙
& ˙˙˙˙ #˙
# ˙˙˙ ˙ #˙ n˙ #˙ #˙ ˙
V7/III V7/VI
as as
#IIO7 #VO7
2
Diminished Chords as Descending Chromatic Chords

The most common decending diminished chord is the bIIIo7. Another descending Diminished
chord which can be found but less frequently used is also the bVIo7

Ex.1
E-7 E¨º7 D-7 G7 CŒ„Š7

& V V V V V V V V V V V V

Ex. 2
CŒ„Š7 A¨º7 G-7 C7 FŒ„Š7

& V V V V V V V V V V V V

Diminished Chord as an Auxillary Chord

The auxillary diminished chord is often used as a way to either delay the resolution of the I chord
or as a way to colour a chord still build off of the tonic of the chord whilst not giving a full sense of
resolution.

Auxillary Diminished chords are created by lowering the 3,5 and 7of Imaj7 or V7.
Ex.1
D-7 G7 Cº7 C6

& V V V V V V V V
Ex.2
17 D-7 G7 Gº7 G7 C6

& V V V V V V V V V V V V