Piano chord
A diminished chord
Adim is a diminished triad: the root A, a minor 3rd up to C and a diminished 5th up to E♭.
- Symbol
- Adim
- Notes
- A – C – E♭
Play it yourself
Tap A, C and E♭ on the keys below, in any order.
- A
- C
- E♭
Diminished chords sound tense and unstable, as if they want to move on. In a major key the diminished chord is the one built on the seventh note, and it usually leads back home.
Inversions of Adim
An inversion keeps the same notes but puts a different one at the bottom. Pianists use them to move between chords with less jumping.
- Root position
A – C – E♭
- 1st inversion · Adim/C
C – E♭ – A
- 2nd inversion · Adim/E♭
E♭ – A – C
Keys with Adim
Adim occurs naturally in these keys. The Roman numeral shows which step of the scale it is built on.