Cdim: guitar chord voicings, inversions, scales and arpeggios

Cdim (Diminished) is an interactive GuitarArcanum page with chord formula, intervals, voicings, inversions, triads, pentatonic patterns, scales and arpeggios on the fretboard.

Chord formula

Interval formula: 1 b3 b5. A diminished triad — root, minor 3rd and flat 5th. A tense, unstable chord that wants to resolve.

Chord tones

The minor 3rd and flat 5th give two stacked half-step tendencies. The tritone between the root and b5 is the source of the tension.

Sound character

Tense, unstable and anxious — never a point of rest.

Harmonic function

Most often a passing or leading-tone chord (the vii) that pulls to the tonic.

Typical progressions

Bdim → C
C – C#dim – Dm
vii° → I

Guitar voicing advice

Compact shapes from the 5th and 4th strings. Often used as a passing chord a half-step between two others.

Fretboard voicings for Cdim

A few curated Cdim shapes with fret numbers, intervals and root markers.

Cdim — A shape, frets 2–6

Cdim — G shape, frets 3–8

Cdim — E shape, frets 6–11

Cdim — D shape, frets 10–14

Cdim — C shape, frets 10–16

Compatible scales for Cdim

Open interactive scale pages that naturally pair with this chord.

Other chord qualities on the C root

Compare this chord with other qualities sharing the same root.