{"id":764,"date":"2022-10-28T10:30:44","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T14:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/?page_id=764"},"modified":"2022-10-28T10:32:35","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T14:32:35","slug":"piano-triads-diminished-chords","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/piano-triads-diminished-chords\/","title":{"rendered":"Piano Triads: Diminished Chords"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Diminished Chords: Ohhhh The Drama!<\/h3>\n<p><strong><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-782\" src=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/diminished-chords-dramatic-sound.jpg\" alt=\"diminished chords - dramatic sound\" width=\"107\" height=\"164\" \/>Diminished<\/strong> chords may not sound like those <strong>augmented<\/strong> chords but they do share a couple of attributes: 1) They are used as &#8220;connecting&#8221; chords more often than not 2) When played on their own, the effect they create is pretty awesome.<\/p>\n<p>Back in the days of silent movies, when music played a primary role in expressing the mood of a very dramatic scene, the <strong>diminished<\/strong> chord would have been a composer&#8217;s best friend. Picture this: It&#8217;s dark&#8230; very dark&#8230; the anticipation of something scary coming around the corner&#8230; [<strong>diminished<\/strong> chord!]&#8230; it seems to be getting closer&#8230; [another <strong>diminished<\/strong> chord!]&#8230; the scene is getting more intense&#8230; [<strong>diminished<\/strong> chord!]<\/p>\n<p>Haha&#8230; well, yeah, that&#8217;s kind of how it went. The <strong>diminished<\/strong> chord portrays intensity, for sure.<\/p>\n<h3>Little Things Mean A Lot<\/h3>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look at a super easy way to arrive at a <strong>diminished<\/strong> triad&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Do you remember how we constructed our <strong>minor<\/strong> triads? Here is that <strong>Cmin<\/strong> chord again:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-738 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/CminorTriad-half-step-illustration.jpg\" alt=\"C minor triad in root position\" width=\"145\" height=\"162\" \/><\/p>\n<p>With just one little modification and we&#8217;ll have a <strong>diminished<\/strong> triad. Take a look:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-778\" src=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/C-diminished-triad.jpg\" alt=\"C diminished triad on piano\" width=\"143\" height=\"177\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Just one small change makes a big difference in sound!<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s pretty clear now, right? So if we are to construct an\u00a0<strong>diminished<\/strong>\u00a0triad from scratch, we can use this simple procedure:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>choose a root (letter name of the chord)<\/li>\n<li>moving up 3 half steps to the next note of the chord<\/li>\n<li>moving up 3 more half steps to the final note of the chord<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>It&#8217;s All In How You Look At It<\/h3>\n<p>Since you&#8217;re becoming an expert at this, you can very likely see that you can take an alternate approach to coming up with a <strong>diminished<\/strong>\u00a0 triad, right? If you play a <strong>minor<\/strong> triad in root position and simply lower that last note one half step, you have a <strong>diminished<\/strong> chord! However you choose to go about it, that&#8217;s great. As with all your other chords, instant recognition will soon make analyzing the structure of these chords obsolete.<\/p>\n<h3>Listen To Those Diminished Chords!<\/h3>\n<p>Go ahead an play that <strong>minor<\/strong> triad above&#8230; then play the <strong>diminished<\/strong>. What do you hear? How are they different to you? Does one sound more dramatic than the other? How would you describe that difference? Remember, whenever you are recognizing sound distinctions, your description is perfect for you. There is no such thing as being wrong. It&#8217;s a personal experience.<\/p>\n<h3>The Diminished Chord In Context<\/h3>\n<p>In this small excerpt from <a href=\"http:\/\/proproach.com\/tilltherewasyou\/index.html\"><em>Till There Was You<\/em><\/a> by Meredith Wilson (made so very popular by The Beatles), we can see an example of how the <strong>diminished<\/strong> chord is used as a &#8220;connecting&#8221; chord between a <strong>Major<\/strong> and a <strong>minor<\/strong> chord:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-781\" src=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/excerpt-from-till-there-was-you-meredith-wilson.png\" alt=\"excerpt from Till There Was You by Meredith Wilson illustrating diminished triad\" width=\"608\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/excerpt-from-till-there-was-you-meredith-wilson.png 608w, https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/excerpt-from-till-there-was-you-meredith-wilson-300x67.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 608px) 85vw, 608px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That <strong>diminished<\/strong> chord really adds interesting energy to a chord progression. You want to master these chords as well. Of course, you will want to practice that <strong>diminished<\/strong> triad on all these roots:<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>C\u00a0 \u00a0F\u00a0 \u00a0Bb\u00a0 \u00a0Eb\u00a0 \u00a0Ab\u00a0 \u00a0Db\u00a0 \u00a0Gb\u00a0 \u00a0B\u00a0 \u00a0E\u00a0 \u00a0A\u00a0 \u00a0D<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3>Chord Mastery, Here You Come!<\/h3>\n<p>Wow, you now have enough knowledge and ability to play ALL FOUR chord quality types &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/learn-piano-triads-major-minor-augmented-diminished-chords\/\"><strong>Major<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/piano-triads-minor-chords\/\"><strong>minor<\/strong><\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/piano-triads-augmented-chords\/\"><strong>augmented<\/strong><\/a>, and <strong>diminished<\/strong>. Furthermore, since you will be playing them on all those roots above, you will have <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>48 chords at your fingertips!<\/strong><\/span> You can play a lot of songs with those chords!<\/p>\n<p>You&#8217;ve learned a lot&#8230; good for you!<\/p>\n<p>Sure, there is lots more to learn when it comes to these basic triads and other chords that you will learn. Just know that you what you know up to this point will serve as a strong foundation for all to come!<\/p>\n<p><center><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Piano Chords 101 \u2013 Triads<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #339966;\">(Video session &amp; guidebook \u2013 instant access)<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-743\" src=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pianochords101snapshot.png\" alt=\"Fun video session and cuidebook for playing triads on the piano\" width=\"558\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pianochords101snapshot.png 558w, https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/pianochords101snapshot-300x102.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 558px) 85vw, 558px\" \/><\/center><center><strong>Just $11<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"wp_cart_button_wrapper\"><form method=\"post\" class=\"wp-cart-button-form\" action=\"\" style=\"display:inline\" onsubmit=\"return ReadForm(this, true);\" ><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"_wpnonce\" name=\"_wpnonce\" value=\"19d7644ff8\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/764\" \/><input type=\"submit\" class=\"wspsc_add_cart_submit\" name=\"wspsc_add_cart_submit\" value=\"Add to Cart\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"wspsc_product\" value=\"Piano Chords 101 - Triads\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"price\" value=\"11\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"shipping\" value=\"0\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"addcart\" value=\"1\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"cartLink\" value=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/764\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"product_tmp\" value=\"Piano Chords 101 - Triads\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"item_number\" value=\"\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"file_url\" value=\"aHR0cDovL3Byb3Byb2FjaC5jb20vcGlhbm9jaG9yZHMxMDEvb3JkZXJfc3VjY2Vzc19QQzEwMS5odG1s\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hash_one\" value=\"98127592cabafb0d208d3c6adb89bb60\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hash_two\" value=\"39d7182a8d3cfa2ec6415362f1cb46ad\" \/><\/form><\/div><\/center><center>(access will be sent to your email address)<\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Diminished Chords: Ohhhh The Drama! Diminished chords may not sound like those augmented chords but they do share a couple of attributes: 1) They are used as &#8220;connecting&#8221; chords more often than not 2) When played on their own, the effect they create is pretty awesome. Back in the days of silent movies, when music &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/pianoamore.com\/welcome\/piano-triads-diminished-chords\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Piano Triads: Diminished Chords&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Piano Triads: Diminished Chords - Piano Amore<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Ready to learn some diminished chords? 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