The diminished 7th

desandrews

All of my music knowledge originated from TABs, I'd find a tab to a song I'd like and try to learn the chords involved and practice, something I'm sure a lot of you have done as well.

Now I've tried to learn some of the theory behind those songs to further my understanding, like what key the song is in. So each key has the major 1st, 4th and 5th (maybe called perfect 4th or whatever, you get it) and the minor 2nd, 3rd and 6th. Also, each key has the diminished 7th before returning to the tonic 1st.

Empirically speaking, I don't know if I've ever seen tabs for a song that include a diminished chord. Am I just looking at the wrong tabs (admittedly, I go with the easier ones)?

Any theorists have personal thoughts on the usefulness or lack thereof of the diminished 7th?

Pearl Jam and toast

they're weird and sadly most modern rock bands don't travel outside of power and open chords.

"Parachutes" has one in it...

I believe it's the strange looking chord before the chorus.

goldstar

if i remember correctly, "speak to me - breathe" by pink floyd has one.
a diminished 7th can have many tab forms (obviously).
you can play this one and move it along the neck, capping the open strings with you finger:

e -0-
B -2-
G -0-
D -2-
A -1-
E -0-

i hope this helped.

desandrews

Any thoughts on how it plays into the overall rhythm creation? Speaking in terms of setting up tension for later resolution etc. Are there any general rules as to where/how the diminished fits in? Do you guys use it often when you write your own music?

Drew263

desandrews wrote:

Any thoughts on how it plays into the overall rhythm creation? Speaking in terms of setting up tension for later resolution etc. Are there any general rules as to where/how the diminished fits in? Do you guys use it often when you write your own music?

I think they're great when used as a connector chord.

moster78

Stone Temple Pilots used diminished chords a lot in their music. Interstate Love Song and Plush have them, for two examples.