A Diminished Chord on Piano

Also known as:
Adim , Ao

Here you can learn how to play A Diminished Chord on the Piano. The A Diminished Chord has a diminished quality which is made by stacking minor Third intervals creating a minor Third, a diminished (lowered or flattened) Fifth that together produce a dark, tense sound. A Diminished Chord contains the notes A, C, E. The A Diminished Chord on Piano is a Triad type chord which means it consists of only three notes, the Root A, the Third C, and the Fifth E.

Below you will find the notes, notation, degrees and intervals of the A Diminished Chord along with any related scales and chords. In the Piano view you can display the notes of the A Diminished Chord mapped out onto the Piano keyboard and switch between the notes, degrees, intervals. These are shown across two octaves to help visualise the different inversions of the chord.

Notes

A, C, E

Notation

Degrees

NoteNumberName
A1Tonic
C3Mediant
E5Dominant

Intervals

NotesSemitonesInterval
A > A0Perfect Unison (P1)
A > C3minor 3rd (m3)
A > E6Diminished 5th (d5 or Tritone)
Root
Third
Fifth
Seventh
C
A
C
A
E
E
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Music Theory

Want to dig deeper and learn about the chord degrees and intervals, or see related scales and chords?

Learn more about A Diminished Chord

If you want to learn what chords are and much more, check out our free Fundamentals of Music Theory course. If you already know some of the basics, you can jump straight into the chords lesson.

Scales related to A Diminished Chord

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