CHORD REFERENCE

Bdim7

B – D – F – A♭1 b3 b5 bb7

The B Diminished 7th chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
B1Db3Fb5A♭bb7

Bdim7 is B, D, F, Ab — the 1, b3, b5 and bb7 above the root B.

Piano
BDFA♭
Guitar

Ways to play it

A-shape barre — 2nd fret
2fr×

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eFA♭BDBBDFA♭BGA♭BDFDDFA♭BDABDFA♭EFA♭BD

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

Movable shape
GCEA
357912ABDFA♭EFA♭BDCDFA♭BGA♭BDF

The shape above is movable up the neck. Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only B, D, F, Ab plays the chord.

In which keys

Bdim7 is a colour chord — it is not diatonic to a plain major or minor key, which is what gives it its character. It shows up as a borrowed chord, an altered dominant, or a passing sound.

Other B chords

Triads

BMajorBmMinorB5Power Chord (5)BdimDiminishedBaugAugmentedBsus2Suspended 2ndBsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

B6Major 6thBm6Minor 6thB7Dominant 7thBmaj7Major 7thBm7Minor 7thBm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thBm7♭5Half-Diminished (m7♭5)B7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

B7♭57♭5B7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)B7♭97♭9B7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Badd9Added 9thB6/96/9B9Dominant 9thBmaj9Major 9thBm9Minor 9thB11Dominant 11thB13Dominant 13th
Diminished 7th on another root
CC♯DD♯EFF♯GG♯AB♭A♯B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.