Changes

B Diminished

1,902 bytes added, 04:19, 5 January 2015

m

no edit summary

<span class="text current">[[B Diminished|B dim]]</span>

<span class="text">[[Other Open String Chords|Open Chords]]</span>

== Open Position B Diminished Triad ==

<span class="text current">[[#Open Position B Diminished Triad|Open B dim]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Harmonic Function: Leading Chord|Theory: Leading Chord]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Full Circle Progression|Circle Prog]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Diminished Fifth Interval|Dim 5th Interval]]</span>

</div>

{|

! Root Pos.

You'll need to use your ring finger to mute the 3rd string when you strum this chord, so you don't hear the open G string. Diminished triads tend to have pretty nasty shapes, and even vanilla B dim is no different. If it's difficult, you can drop the high F with the index finger.

== Harmonic Function: Leading Chord ==

<span class="text">[[#Open Position B Diminished Triad|Open B dim]]</span>

<span class="text current">[[#Harmonic Function: Leading Chord|Theory: Leading Chord]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Full Circle Progression|Circle Prog]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Diminished Fifth Interval|Dim 5th Interval]]</span>

</div>

B dim is diatonic to the key of C Major, using its 7th scale degree as the root note. Thus, it is called the vii or vii° chord. The ° indicates diminished, but you have to be careful - we are dealing with the diminished triad here, not the diminished seventh. The Diminished 7th chord has two variations - half and full. Half is indicated with a slash through the ° symbol.

A--3------3------2------3------

E------------------------------

== Full Circle Progression ==

<span class="text">[[#Open Position B Diminished Triad|Open B dim]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Harmonic Function: Leading Chord|Theory: Leading Chord]]</span>

<span class="text current">[[#Full Circle Progression|Circle Prog]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Diminished Fifth Interval|Dim 5th Interval]]</span>

</div>

C F B{{dim}} Em Am Dm G C

I IV vii{{dim}} iii vi ii V I

Now that we know the vii chord, we can play the full circle progression in the key of C Major.

== Diminished Fifth Interval ==

<span class="text">[[#Open Position B Diminished Triad|Open B dim]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Harmonic Function: Leading Chord|Theory: Leading Chord]]</span>

<span class="text">[[#Full Circle Progression|Circle Prog]]</span>

<span class="text current">[[#Diminished Fifth Interval|Dim 5th Interval]]</span>

</div>

The vii chord is the only diatonic chord in any major key to contain the diminished 5th interval. Remember that the most harmonic interval (other than an octave) is the perfect fifth, represented by the simple ratio of 3:2. By contrast, the diminished 5th has a ratio is 45:32. The smaller the denominator, the more harmonic the interval. Let's see all the intervals:

Using the denominator method of analyzing intervals, we get the following order from most harmonic to least: P5, P4, M6, M3, m3, m6, 7, M2, M7, d5. The d5 is the least harmonic, and it's quite apparent when playing the B dim chord. This means the vii chord not only has tension in the context of the tonality and its placement inside a progression, but it is also quite dissonant and tense in and of itself. Typically, we don't see diminished triads as commonly as diminished 7th or other extended chords. With the additional note(s) in the chord, the d5 interval is more diluted and the overall effect is less dissonant.

== Q & A ==

<span class="text current">[[B Diminished|B dim]]</span>

<span class="text">[[Other Open String Chords|Open Chords]]</span>

[[Category:Open Position]]

[[Category:Intervals]]

Meambobbo

Bureaucrat, administrator

8,720

edits

Changes

B Diminished

MAB Wiki