Diatonic Chord Progression And Diminished Passing Chords
Diminished chords often serve as transitional harmonies, filling the gaps between stable diatonic chords and enhancing progressions with a sense of forward motion.
Whether you’re playing jazz, blues, rock, or classical music, understanding how to incorporate passing diminished chords can open up new creative possibilities in your chordal vocabulary.
Diminished 7 Chords
First, let’s learn what a diminished 7 chord is.
A diminished 7th chord (dim7) is a four-note chord built entirely of minor third intervals.
It consists of:
- Root (1)
- Minor third (♭3)
- Diminished fifth (♭5)
- Diminished seventh (♭♭7) – also called a “double-flat seventh,” which sounds the same as a major sixth.
Thus giving the formula: 1 – ♭3 – ♭5 – ♭♭7
For example, in C diminished 7 (Cdim7):
- C (root)
- E♭ (minor third)
- G♭ (diminished fifth)
- B♭♭ (diminished seventh, which sounds like A)
Symmetrical Structure:
Since it’s built entirely of minor thirds, it repeats every three frets on the guitar.
That means Cdim7, E♭dim7, G♭dim7, and Adim7 (or B♭♭) all share the same notes!
Tension & Unresolved Sound:
It creates a strong sense of instability, making it perfect for passing chords or leading into a resolution.
Common in Jazz & Classical Music:
It’s frequently used as a passing or substitute chord to create smooth chromatic movement in progressions as demonstrated in this lesson which shows 4 ways to use a diminished 7 chord.
Diatonic Chord Progression
A diatonic chord progression is a series of chords that are built from the notes of a single key, meaning all the chords stay within that key’s scale without borrowing notes from outside.
These progressions create a sense of harmonic stability and are the foundation of most Western music styles, including pop, rock, jazz, and classical.
Here is a chart showing the diatonic chords of C major.