Not to be confused with diminished triad or half-diminished seventh chord (the name 'diminished seventh' conventionally refers only to the 'fully diminished' version of the chord).
diminished seventh
Component intervals from root
diminished seventh
diminished fifth (tritone)
minor third
root
Tuning
125:150:180:216[1]
Forte no. / Complement
4–28 / 8–28
The diminished seventh chord is a four-note chord (a seventh chord) composed of a root note, together with a minor third, a diminished fifth, and a diminished seventh above the root: (1, ♭3, ♭5, 7). For example, the diminished seventh chord built on B, commonly written as Bo7, has pitches B-D-F-A♭:
The chord consists of a diminished triad plus the diminished seventh above the root. These four notes form a stack of three intervals which are all minor thirds. Since stacking yet another minor third returns to the root note, the four inversions of a diminished seventh chord are symmetrical. The integer notation is {0, 3, 6, 9}.
Since the diminished seventh interval is enharmonically equivalent to a major sixth, the chord is enharmonically equivalent to (1, ♭3, ♭5, ♮6).
The diminished seventh chord occurs as a leading-tone seventh chord in the harmonic minor scale. It typically has dominant function and contains two diminished fifths, which often resolve inwards.[2]
The chord notation for the diminished seventh chord (assuming root C) is Cdim7 or Co7 (or Cm6♭5 for the enharmonic variant). The notation Cdim or Co normally denotes a (three-note) diminished triad, but some jazz charts or other music literature may intend for these to denote the four-note diminished seventh chord instead.
François-Joseph Fétis tuned the chord 10:12:14:17 (17-limit tuning).[3]
^Shirlaw, Matthew (1900). The Theory of Harmony, p. 86. ISBN 978-1-4510-1534-8. "G♯–B–D–F."
^Benward & Saker (2003). Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p. 219. Seventh Edition. ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
^Fétis, François-Joseph and Arlin, Mary I. (1994). Esquisse de l'histoire de l'harmonie, p. 139n9. ISBN 978-0-945193-51-7.
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7). For example, the diminished seventh chord built on B, commonly written as Bo7, has pitches B-D-F-A♭:
