Piano chord
A♭ diminished chord
A♭dim is a diminished triad: the root A♭, a minor 3rd up to C♭ and a diminished 5th up to E𝄫.
- Symbol
- A♭dim
- 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 A♭dim
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 · A♭dim/C♭
C♭ – E𝄫 – A♭
- 2nd inversion · A♭dim/E𝄫
E𝄫 – A♭ – C♭
Keys with A♭dim
A♭dim occurs naturally in these keys. The Roman numeral shows which step of the scale it is built on.