Do you know which notes are in the A diminished chord? This article will show you three ways to play this chord on the piano.
What Notes Make up the A diminished Chord?
The symbol of the A diminished chord is Adim.
The notes of the Adim chord are A – C – D#.
The Adim chord is a triad because it has three notes: root (A), minor third (C), and diminished fifth (D#).
How to Play the A diminished Chord on the Piano?
The image below shows how to play the notes of the A diminished chord on the piano in root position:
You can see that the first note from the left is A (the root), the second note is C (the minor third), and the third note is D# (the diminished fifth).
What is the Root Note of the A diminished Chord?
Making the assumption that you are playing the Adim chord in root position the lowest note is A.
How Do You Memorize the Adim Chord?
Here is how to remember the notes of the A diminished chord:
- Start from the first note of the chord (the root) that for the A diminished chord is A.
- To find the second note of the chord calculate a minor third from the root (C).
- Then to find the third note of the chord calculate the diminished fifth from the root (D#).
This applies if you are playing the A diminished chord in root position.
What is the 1st Inversion of the A diminished Chord?
The 1st inversion of the Adim chord starts with the note C.
The picture below shows how to play the notes of the A diminished chord on the piano in the first inversion:
In the 1st inversion, you shift the root of the Adim chord (A) up one octave compared to the root position.
The notes of the Adim chord in the 1st inversion are C – D# – A.
How Do You Make the 2nd Chord Inversion for A diminished?
The 2nd inversion of the Adim chord starts with the note D#.
Below you can see how to play the notes of the second inversion of the A diminished chord on the piano:
In the 2nd inversion, you also shift the third of the Adim chord (C) up one octave.
The notes of the 2nd inversion of the Adim chord are D# – A – C.
We have seen that the Adim has three notes (it is called a triad). For this reason it cannot have a third inversion as this inversion would be the same as the root position.
Learn Other A Chords
The following articles show you how to play other A chords: