Diminished Chord Construction

Lesson 4/91 | Study Time: 5 Min

Course: Bass Guitar Method

Diminished Chord Construction

The formula for a diminished chord (often abbreviated to "dim" or written with a small B or minus sign) is: I b III bV bVII*

Thus the GB chord is constructed as such:

and the BbB chord is constructed:

You will notice that the notes contained in these two chords are identical. If you construct a D^B or an E^B they will also contain the same notes (arranged in a different order). Thus all four diminished chords will use the following arpeggio pattern:

This pattern can start on either the 4th, 3rd or 2nd strings. Each note of the pattern can be regarded as a root note of the four respective diminished chords.

Play the following diminished chord examples.

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Gary Turner and Brenton White

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1- Minor Chord Riffs 2- Notes on the Fretboard 3- SECTION TWO 4- The 12 Bar Blues Progression 5- Alternate Picking 6- 12 Bar in A 7- Riff No. 8 8- INTRODUCTION 9- Rhythm Variations 10- Turnaround Pattern Two 11- Passing Notes 12- The Slide 13- SECTION THREE 14- Creating A Bass Line 15- Minor Chord Construction 16- Major 7th*, Minor 7th and Ninth Chord Construction 17- Augmented Chord Construction 18- Comparison of Styles 19- SECTION ONE 20- Notes on the First String 21- 12 Bar Blues 22- The Half Note 23- Fretboard Diagram 24- Turnaround Progression No. 2 25- The Major Scale 26- Riff No. 5 27- Sharps and Flats 28- Shuffle Rhythm 29- Examples on the First and Second Strings 30- Octaves 31- Tuning Your Bass 32- Walking Bass 33- Staccato 34- Riff No. 9 35- Turnaround Progression No. 1 36- Open String Notes 37- Timing Combinations 38- Sixth Chord Construction 39- C Major Scale 40- Chord Construction - Major Chords 41- Riff No. 2 42- 12 Bar Blues Riff No. 1 43- Notes on the 4th and 5th Frets 44- Minor Chord Arpeggio 45- Suspended Chord Construction 46- Extra Progressions 47- Eighth Notes 48- Arpeggio Patterns 49- Walking Bass Examples 50- Major Chord Arpeggio 51- Syncopation 52- 8 Bar Minor Blues 53- Diminished Chord Construction 54- Notation 55- A Major Scale 56- 8 Bar Blues 57- 12 Bar in C 58- Riff Variations 59- Transposing 60- The Tie 61- Turnaround Pattern One 62- Open String Notes 63- 12 Bar Blues Pattern Two 64- Riffs 65- The Minor Pentatonic Scale 66- E Flat Major Scale 67- Music Notation 68- 7th Chord Construction 69- Blues in G 70- Section Two Summary 71- 12 Bar Blues Pattern Three 72- Rock Progression 73- Eighth Note Rest 74- Syncopation Examples 75- Jazz Turnaround 76- 12 Bar Blues Pattern One 77- Syncopated Rhythm Styles 78- The Bass Guitar 79- Triplet Timing 80- Minor Pentatonic Triplets 81- 7th Chord Arpeggio 82- Higher Position Examples 83- The Hammer on 84- Minor Pentatonic Scale Over the Entire Fretboard 85- 12 Bar in A 86- The I -V Formula 87- Triplet Riff 88- Note Reading Examples 89- Riff/Scale Relationships 90- Triplet Blues Riff 91- Section One Summary

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Diminished Chord Construction