What notes are in Bbdim?

Bbdim contains Bb · Db · Fb. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.

How do you build a diminished chord?

Stack two minor thirds: root, minor third, diminished fifth.

Why does a diminished chord sound unstable?

Its fifth is diminished rather than perfect, so the chord lacks the strong 3:2 consonance that anchors major and minor triads.

What notes are in the Bb Diminished chord?

The Bb Diminished chord contains the notes Bb · Db · Fb: the root Bb with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5d stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Bb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the Bb Diminished chord?

Measured from Bb, the Bb Diminished chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5d. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.

Bb Diminished Chord (Bbdim): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	Bb3 · Db4 · Fb4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

Bb Diminished (Bbdim) contains the notes Bb · Db · Fb, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built

Inversions

An inversion of Bb Diminished puts a chord tone other than Bb in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales Bb Diminished belongs to.

In which keys

Bb Diminished is diatonic to 5 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.

B minorvii°Dominant
B majorvii°Dominant
G# minorii°Subdominant
F minoriv°Subdominant
D minorvi°Subdominant

Scales that contain it

Bb Diminished fits inside these scales, each built on Bb.

Bb Minor BluesBb · Db · Eb · Fb · F · Ab
Bb LocrianBb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · Gb · Ab
Bb AlteredBb · Cb · C# · D · E · Gb · Ab
Bb Half-Whole DiminishedBb · Cb · Db · D · E · F · G · Ab
Bb Locrian PentatonicBb · Db · Eb · Fb · Ab
Bb Locrian #2Bb · C · Db · Eb · Fb · Gb · Ab
Bb Locrian 6Bb · Cb · Db · Eb · Fb · G · Ab
Bb Dorian #4Bb · C · Db · E · F · G · Ab

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with Bb Diminished: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Richer

Bbm7b5Bb · Db · Fb · Ab
BboM7Bb · Db · Fb · A
Bbo7M7Bb · Db · Fb · G · A
Bbm9b5Bb · C · Db · Fb · Ab
Bbmaj7#9#11Bb · D · F · A · C# · E
Bb7#9#11Bb · D · F · Ab · C# · E

Diminished on every root

Cdim C#dim Ddim D#dim Edim Fdim F#dim Gdim G#dim Adim A#dim Bdim

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Understanding the Bb Diminished chord

Names and symbols

Bbdim is the chord symbol for Bb Diminished; it is also written Bb°, Bbo.

dim7 and °7 both mean the diminished seventh. A bare dim or ° on a chart sometimes means the triad and sometimes this four-note chord, so the context decides.

Bb Diminished and A# Diminished are the same sound spelled two ways; both have a page here, and each links to the other. A# Diminished

How it is built

On Bb it is Bb · Db · Fb: 1P · 3m · 5d. The fifth is diminished rather than perfect, which removes the chord's acoustic anchor and leaves it leaning.

How it is used

It is the chord built on the seventh degree of a major scale, and it usually behaves like a dominant with the root missing: it resolves up a semitone to the tonic. As a passing chord between two diatonic chords it smooths a bass line without changing the harmony underneath.

Learn this properly

Chapter 10: Chords: Triads and Sevenths

Common questions

What notes are in Bbdim?: Bbdim contains Bb · Db · Fb. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.
How do you build a diminished chord?: Stack two minor thirds: root, minor third, diminished fifth.
Why does a diminished chord sound unstable?: Its fifth is diminished rather than perfect, so the chord lacks the strong 3:2 consonance that anchors major and minor triads.
What notes are in the Bb Diminished chord?: The Bb Diminished chord contains the notes Bb · Db · Fb: the root Bb with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5d stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally Bb, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the Bb Diminished chord?: Measured from Bb, the Bb Diminished chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5d. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.