Fdim7 guitar chord
The standard grips this chord is usually shown with.
- Tap a note to hear it
- Arrows change position
- Fingers, notes or intervals
- Play the chord
About Fdim7 — 2nd inversion
Fdim7 is F, Ab, Cb and D — Fdim with a diminished seventh stacked on top.
It sounds suspenseful and rootless. Three stacked minor thirds divide the octave evenly, so the same four notes spell four dim7 chords and the shape repeats every three frets.
Leading-tone or passing chord — it can resolve almost anywhere.
Fdim7 notes and formula
| F | Ab | Cb | D |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | ♭5 | ♭♭7 |
Also written F°7, Fo7 or F diminished 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Fdim7
Fdim7 in 2nd inversion puts Cb in the bass instead of F, the 5th of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Fdim7’s 8 common shapes does this:x-x-9-10-9-10
Play Fdim7 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (G), the 11 (Bb), the b13 (Db) or the maj7 (E).
All 8 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 1x0101, open position, F, root position, top note F, barred
- 123131, 1st fret, F, root position, top note F, barred
- xx3434, 3rd fret, F, root position, top note Ab, all fretted
- xx6767, 6th fret, Ab, 1st inversion, top note Cb, all fretted
- x89797, 7th fret, F, root position, top note Cb, all fretted
- x-x-9-10-9-10, 9th fret, Cb, 2nd inversion, top note D, all fretted
- 13-x-12-13-12-13, 12th fret, F, root position, top note F, barred
- 13-14-15-13-15-13, 13th fret, F, root position, top note F, barred
How to use Fdim7
A diminished seventh divides the octave evenly, so Fdim7 has no single root and no single destination: it can lead to Bb or to Gb, and it is the same four notes either way.
What to play over Fdim7
Every note of Fdim7 is in F diminished and F half-whole diminished.
Chords near Fdim7
Change one note of Fdim7 and you have Fdim (drop the diminished seventh), Fm6 (the flat fifth becomes the fifth), Fm7b5 (the diminished seventh becomes the flat seventh) or FmMaj7b5 (the diminished seventh becomes the major seventh).
Fdim7 is a diminished chord — root, minor third, flat fifth. Diminished and half-diminished chords on every root.
The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.