Adim piano chord — the keys, the inversions, the theory

Adim is a diminished chord built from A, C, Eb. Below: the keys to press, every inversion with its own diagram, the intervals it is made of, the keys whose scale contains it, and a progression that actually uses it. Press any diagram to hear it.

Adim

A · C · Eb

Piano keyboardC4C5

Semitones above the root: 0 – 3 – 6

Two minor thirds stacked. Nothing sits still here; it is a chord that leads somewhere.

Inversions of Adim

  • Root position

    A · C · Eb · bass A

  • Inversion 1

    C · Eb · A · bass C

  • Inversion 2

    Eb · A · C · bass Eb

Same chord, different note at the bottom. Press a diagram to hear it — inversions are how you move between chords without jumping your hand across the keyboard.

Keys that contain Adim

  • Bbvii°

In Bb it does this job: IV – vii° – I

  1. Eb
  2. Adim
  3. Bb

Questions