Understanding Diminished Chords
Diminished 7th chords are not as common as major, minor and dominant chords and so you don’t see them as often in jazz standards. Because of this, we’re generally not as comfortable with diminished voicings and students’ tend to freak out when one does pop up on a lead sheet.
We’re going to start off this lesson by recapping the theory behind diminished chords and then we will look at them in context of a couple of different jazz standards so that you understand the practical application.
We use the jazz standard ‘Someday My Prince Will Come‘ to apply two handed diminished chord voicings and then look at the tune ‘Body & Soul‘ to substitute diminished chords for the related dominant upper structure triads.
Related Lessons
In this lesson we explore some advanced applications of upper structure triads in context of jazz standards we have covered.
The catchy melodic motives, complex chord progressions and unusual key changes make Body & Soul a favourite amongst most jazz musicians.
Upper structure triads are complex sounding altered dominant chords. They will add texture and sophistication to your playing.
Practice Tips
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Remember that diminished chords are dominant b9 chords in disguise.
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If you add a note a major 3rd below a diminished chord you will be playing a dominant b9 chord.
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Try to memorise the diminished groups. There are 3 groups with 4 diminished chords in each group.
- The chords in each group contain the exact same notes, they are simply an inversion.
Can we talk about the beautiful line you play at 05:22. Is there more on this?
Hayden hello again! Please ignore my previous question as I have found the answer in your diminished chords major third substitutions lesson many thanks Andy