Guitar, piano and ukulele chords

Adim chord (A diminished)

The Adim chord (A diminished) has 3 notes: A, C and E♭. It is a diminished chord: root, minor third and diminished fifth. It sounds very tense and unstable. It works as vii° in B flat major and ii° in G minor.

How to play it on guitar

An x is a string you don't play and 0 is an open string. The number on the left is the fret where the shape starts.

××
Barre chord · fret 1
x0121x
4fr ××
Easy version
xx7545

Notes in the chord

NoteInterval
ARoot
CMinor third
E♭Diminished fifth

Inversions

  • Root position: A – C – E♭
  • First inversion: C – E♭ – A
  • Second inversion: E♭ – A – C

On piano

The highlighted keys (A, C and E♭) make the chord in root position.

On ukulele

2fr
Usual shape
2353
6fr
Higher up the neck · fret 6
8986

Frequently asked questions

What notes are in the Adim chord?

Adim has 3 notes: A, C and E♭. It is a diminished chord: root, minor third and diminished fifth.

How do you play Adim on guitar?

The usual shape is x0121x, read from the low E string to the high E string. If you can't play barre chords yet, start with the easy version: xx7545.

What keys is Adim in?

Adim is in B flat major (vii°) and G minor (ii°).