Gdim7 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 Gdim7 — 1st inversion
Gdim7 is G, Bb, Db and Fb — Gdim 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.
Gdim7 notes and formula
| G | Bb | Db | Fb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | ♭5 | ♭♭7 |
Also written G°7, Go7 or G diminished 7. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Gdim7
Gdim7 in 1st inversion puts Bb in the bass instead of G, the 3rd 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 Gdim7’s 8 common shapes does this:xx8989
Play Gdim7 as a shell — root, third and seventh — and the spare string takes the 9 (A), the 11 (C), the b13 (Eb) or the maj7 (F#).
All 8 common shapes as fret numbers, lowest string first. Hover or tap one to see it drawn.
- 31x320, open position, G, root position, top note Fb, 1 open string
- 3x2320, open position, G, root position, top note Fb, 1 open string
- 345353, 3rd fret, G, root position, top note G, barred
- xx5656, 5th fret, G, root position, top note Bb, all fretted
- xx8989, 8th fret, Bb, 1st inversion, top note Db, all fretted
- x-10-11-9-11-9, 9th fret, G, root position, top note Db, all fretted
- x-x-11-12-11-12, 11th fret, Db, 2nd inversion, top note Fb, all fretted
- 15-x-14-15-14-15, 14th fret, G, root position, top note G, barred
How to use Gdim7
A diminished seventh divides the octave evenly, so Gdim7 has no single root and no single destination: it can lead to C or to Ab, and it is the same four notes either way.
What to play over Gdim7
Every note of Gdim7 is in G diminished and G half-whole diminished.
Chords near Gdim7
Change one note of Gdim7 and you have Gdim (drop the diminished seventh), Gm6 (the flat fifth becomes the fifth), Gm7b5 (the diminished seventh becomes the flat seventh) or GmMaj7b5 (the diminished seventh becomes the major seventh).
Gdim7 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.