A♭^dim

About the A♭dim chord

The A♭dim chord (diminished) is made up of 3 notes — A♭ is the root, C♭ the minor third and D the diminished fifth. Both the third and the fifth are lowered, stacking two minor thirds for an unstable, edgy sound.

On guitar, A♭dim chords are most often played in open position: 420104. Let the open D and B strings ring out. The diagrams above show 4 playable voicings in all.

Diminished triads are tense and unstable, often used as passing chords between stronger harmonies.

Open A♭dim in the interactive finder →

Common questions

What notes are in the A♭dim chord?

The A♭dim chord contains the notes A♭, C♭ and D.

How do you play A♭dim on guitar?

A common open-position shape is 420104. The diagrams above show 4 playable voicings you can strum or hear.

What intervals make up the A♭dim chord?

The A♭dim chord is built from the root (A♭), a minor third (C♭) and a diminished fifth (D).

Is A♭dim the same as G♯dim?

Yes — A♭ and G♯ are two names for the same pitch (enharmonic equivalents), so A♭dim and G♯dim are the same chord. MobileChords spells it A♭dim.

More than a chord chart

The chart above is just the start. Open A♭dim in the finder to hear it on guitar and piano and browse every playable voicing side by side. Or switch to Name my chord — tap frets or keys and MobileChords identifies the chord you're playing, inversions and slash chords included.