Diminished seventh chord

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Diminished seventh chord

A diminished seventh chord is a four note chord comprising a diminished triad

Diminished chord

A diminished triad chord is a Triad consisting of a minor third and a diminished fifth above the Root ? if built on C, a diminished chord would have a C, an E and a G....
plus the interval of a diminished seventh

Diminished seventh

In music theory, a diminished seventh is an interval encompassing nine semitones. It spans seven scale degrees and contains nine half steps, being one semitone smaller than a minor seventh and enharmonically equivalent to a major sixth....
(alternatively regarded enharmonically as a sixth

Sixth

Sixth can refer to:* Sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution to the U.S. Constitution...
) above the root. Thus it is (1, 3, 5, 7), or enharmonically (1, 3, 5, 6), of any major scale

Major scale

In music theory, the major scale or Ionian mode scale is one of the diatonic scale Musical scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher....
; for example, C diminished-seventh would be (C, E, G, B), or enharmonically (C, E, G, A). It can be regarded as a seventh chord

Seventh chord

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A diminished seventh chord is a four note chord comprising a diminished triad

Diminished chord

Diminished seventh

Sixth

Sixth can refer to:* Sixth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution to the U.S. Constitution...
) above the root. Thus it is (1, 3, 5, 7), or enharmonically (1, 3, 5, 6), of any major scale

Major scale

Seventh chord

A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root . When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with a flat seventh ....
, where all notes except the root are lowered one semi-note. But it should not be confused with the half-diminished seventh chord

Half-diminished seventh chord

In music theory, the half-diminished seventh chord is created by taking the Root , minor third, diminished fifth and minor seventh of any major scale; for example, C half-diminished would be ....
, in which the seventh not diminished but rather is minor (7).

In most sheet music books, Cdim or C° denotes a diminished seventh chord with root C. However, in some modern jazz books and some music theory literature, Cdim or C° denotes a diminished triad, while Cdim7 or C°7 denotes a diminished seventh chord.

The most common form of the diminished seventh chord is one which includes the leading tone, as well as the second, fourth, and flatted sixth (flat submediant

Submediant

In music, the submediant is the sixth tonal degree of the diatonic scale. It is so called because it is a third below the Tonic , in contrast to the mediant being a third above the tonic....
) scale degrees. These notes occur naturally in the harmonic minor scale; for example, in the key of C, the chord (B, D, F, A). But this chord also appears in major keys, especially after the time of Bach, where it is "borrowed" from the parallel minor.

Seventh chords may also be rooted on other scale degrees, either as secondary function

Secondary dominant

Secondary dominant is a type of chord used in musical harmony. It refers to a Dominant of a degree other than the Tonic , with V7/V, the dominant of the dominant, "being the most frequently encountered"....
chords temporarily borrowed from other keys, or as appoggiatura chords: a chord rooted on the raised second scale degree (D-F-A-C in the key of C) acts as an appoggiatura to the tonic (C major) chord, and one rooted on the raised sixth scale degree (A-C-E-G in C major) acts as an appoggiatura to the dominant (G major) chord. These chords may be referred to as "secondary diminished seventh chords" or as a subclass of secondary dominants.

In jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
, the diminished seventh chord is often based on the lowered third scale degree (the flat mediant

Mediant

In music, the mediant is the third degree of the diatonic Scale , being the "middle" note of the Tonic triad .In music theory, the mediant chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral III if it is major or iii if it is minor....
) and acts as a passing chord between the mediant triad (or first-inversion tonic triad) and the supertonic triad: in C major, this would be the chord progression E minor - E diminished - D minor.

The diminished seventh chord comprises frequencies that are equally spaced when considered on a logarithmic axis, and thus divides the octave into four logarithmically equal portions.

Diminished seventh root

Music theorists have struggled over the centuries to explain the meaning and function of diminished seventh chords. Currently, two approaches are generally used. The less complex method treats the leading tone as the root of the chord, and the other chord members as the third, fifth, and seventh of the chord, the same way other seventh chord

Seventh chord

A seventh chord is a chord consisting of a triad plus a note forming an interval of a seventh above the chord's root . When not otherwise specified, a "seventh chord" usually means a major triad with a flat seventh ....
s are analyzed.

The other method is to analyze the chord as an "incomplete dominant ninth", that is a ninth chord with its root on the dominant, whose root is missing or implied. VIIdim7 in the minor key (for example, in C minor, B, D, F, A) occurs naturally in the harmonic minor scale

Minor scale

A minor scale in music theory is a diatonic scale with a third scale degree at an Interval of a minor third above the Tonic . While this definition encompasses Musical mode with the minor third, such as Dorian mode, the term may more usually refer only to the natural minor, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales, descri...
and is equivalent to the dominant ninth chord (G, B, D, F, A) without its root. Walter Piston has long been the champion of this analysis.

The dominant ninth theory has been questioned by Heinrich Schenker

Heinrich Schenker

Heinrich Schenker was a music theorist, best known for his approach to musical analysis, now usually called Schenkerian analysis.Schenker was born in Vyshnivchyk in Galicia then in Austria-Hungary ....
. He explained that although there is a kinship between all univalent chords rising out of the fifth degree, the dominant ninth chord is not a real chord formation.

Inversions

The fundamental tone or root of any diminished seventh chord, being composed of three stacked minor thirds, is ambiguous. For example, Cdim7 in root position: C + E + G + B (each has one and half interval), is just as easily viewed as an Edim7 in its first inversion:

D (enharmonic equivalent of C) + E + G + B.

It can also be viewed as a Gdim7 in its second inversion:

D + F (enharmonic equivalent of E) + G + B.

Delineating this chord in its last possibility, that of Bdim7 in its third inversion, is very clumsy and not very useful as it requires the use a triple-flatted note, something that is never used in a musical score:

D + F + A (enharmonic equivalent of G) + B.

However, by enharmonically respelling the B to A, this can also be viewed as a first inversion Adim7 chord:

C + E + G + A (enharmonic equivalent of B).

Other possibilities present themselves by respelling the various roots; for instance:

C + E + F (enharmonic equivalent of G) + A (enharmonic equivalent of B) (second inversion Fdim7).

C + D (enharmonic equivalent of E) + F (enharmonic equivalent of G) + A (enharmonic equivalent of B) (third inversion Ddim7).

B (enharmonic equivalent of C) + D (enharmonic equivalent of E) + F (enharmonic equivalent of G) + A (enharmonic equivalent of B) (root position Bdim7).

All of the chord's inversions have the same sound harmonically. Because of the chord's symmetrical nature (superimposing more minor thirds on top of the the dim 7 produces no new notes), there are only three different diminished seventh chords possible.

The diminished seventh chord can appear in first, second, or (least common) third inversion

Inversion (music)

In music theory, the word inversion has several meanings. There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and inverted voices....
. Each inversion is enharmonic

Enharmonic

In modern music and musical notation, an enharmonic equivalent is a note , interval , or key signature which is equivalence to some other note, interval, or key signature, but "spelled", or named, differently....
with another diminished seventh chord, and 19th-century composers in particular often make use of this enharmonic to use these chords for modulation

Modulation (music)

In music, modulation is most commonly the act or process of changing from one key to another. This may or may not be accompanied by a change in key signature....
s. Percy Goetschius calls it the "enharmonic chord."

Using Piston's incomplete-ninth analysis, a single diminished seventh chord, without enharmonic change, is capable of the following analyses: V, V of II, V of III (in min.), V of III (in maj.), V of IV, V of V, V of VI (in min.), V of VI (in maj.), V of VII (in maj.). Since the chord may be enharmonically written in four different ways without changing the sound, we may multiply the above by four, making a total of forty-eight possible interpretations.