The Adim7 guitar chord is built from the notes A, C, D#, F#. Its first guitar voicing is the movable voicing: low E string at fret 5 (little finger); A string open; D string at fret 4 (middle finger); G string at fret 5 (little finger); B string at fret 4 (ring finger); high e string at fret 2 (index finger). It is a diminished 7th chord, and this page gives you its exact notes, the fingerings that work on the guitar, the mistakes to avoid and the progressions it appears in.
What notes are in the Adim7 chord?
The Adim7 chord is a diminished 7th chord, and its notes are fixed: A, C, D#, F#. Every voicing on every instrument uses these same notes, in some order and in some octave — change one of them and you are playing a different chord. The table below lists each note with its interval from the root A, so you can see the structure of Adim7 at a glance. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in Adim7.
| Note | Interval |
|---|---|
| A | Root |
| C | b3 |
| D# | b5 |
| F# | 6 |
The root is A, the note the chord is named after and the note your ear hears as home. Above it, the intervals in Adim7 are b3, b5, 6. Once you know the intervals, you can build Adim7 from any root by counting the same semitone steps, which is how the chord works in every key. On the guitar, the notes appear in the order the fingering dictates, but the set of notes never changes.
Adim7 sounds compressed and chromatic, four notes a minor 3rd apart, each one pulling toward a different resolution. That character comes straight from the intervals above, not from the instrument: the same notes on piano, guitar or ukulele carry the same colour, even though the voicing changes. On the guitar, the movable voicing of Adim7 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Comparing Adim7 with its closest relatives helps to fix it in your ear. In short, diminished 7th against half-diminished: Adim7 flattens the 7th twice, to F#; the half-diminished chord keeps the flattened 7th G. That one note changes the whole character. Practise the two chords back to back and listen to the one note that changes — that single note is the difference between the two chords. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in Adim7.
How to play Adim7 on guitar
On the guitar, Adim7 has 3 voicings in the data below, and each one uses the same notes — A, C, D#, F# — in a different place on the neck. There are 3 voicings listed for Adim7 on the guitar; learn the first, then add the others as you need them. Finger numbers below use 1 for the index finger, 2 for the middle finger, 3 for the ring finger and 4 for the little finger, and x means the string is not played.
The movable voicing puts Adim7 in around fret 2: low E string at fret 5 (little finger); A string open; D string at fret 4 (middle finger); G string at fret 5 (little finger); B string at fret 4 (ring finger); high e string at fret 2 (index finger). The stretch is the challenge: the fretted notes span from fret 2 to fret 5, so keep your thumb low behind the neck and let your fingers reach rather than squeezing the neck. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in Adim7 — A, C, D#, F# — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
The barre chord is the voicing to learn if you want Adim7 in around fret 2: low E string at fret 2 (index finger); A string at fret 3 (middle finger); D string at fret 4 (ring finger); G string at fret 2 (index finger); B string at fret 4 (little finger); high e string at fret 2 (index finger). It barres across strings 1 to 6 at fret 2 with the index finger. The barre is the hard part: the index finger must press every string from 1 to 6 evenly at fret 2, so roll it slightly onto its bony side and keep it close to the fret wire. If the barre buzzes, move it a fraction closer to the fret and press from the arm, not the thumb alone. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in Adim7 — A, C, D#, F# — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
The open position puts Adim7 in open position: low E string muted; A string open; D string at fret 1 (index finger); G string at fret 2 (ring finger); B string at fret 1 (middle finger); high e string at fret 2 (little finger). The challenge here is the muted string: 1 string is marked x, and it needs to stay silent. Let the edge of a fretting finger rest lightly on it — muting by touch, not by pressing. Strum or pluck it slowly first and check that every note in Adim7 — A, C, D#, F# — sounds, with no buzz and no accidental open string.
Choosing between the voicings of Adim7 is a musical decision, not a right-or-wrong one. The open or low-position voicing rings the most and suits strumming, while a barre or movable voicing lets you slide Adim7 up the neck to any key without changing the shape. When you change chords, pick the voicing of Adim7 that sits closest to the chord before it — shorter moves between shapes mean faster, cleaner changes. Practise the change into Adim7 from the chord that comes before it in your song, not the chord on its own, because the move is the skill. On the guitar, the movable voicing of Adim7 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
A short practice routine for Adim7 on the guitar: play the first voicing four times slowly, checking each note, then change to it from the chord a fourth above A and back, four times, at a slow tempo. Then play the second voicing the same way. If a note buzzes, stop and fix the finger placement rather than playing through the buzz — clean notes at a slow tempo become clean notes at full tempo, while buzzes practised fast become habits. Use the Guitar Chord Finder to see the diagram for Adim7 while you practise, and the Chord Finder to compare it with the same chord on other instruments.
Common mistakes
These are the mistakes that most often make Adim7 sound wrong on the guitar, and each one has a concrete fix. Work through them one at a time rather than trying to fix everything at once.
Voicing it too low. Four notes a minor 3rd apart sound muddy in low octaves. Spread them out or use a higher voicing. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes A, C, D#, F# in Adim7.
Forgetting it is symmetrical. Because the notes are evenly spaced, Adim7 can resolve in four directions. Practise resolving it to the tonic and to the chord a semitone above its root. On the guitar, the movable voicing of Adim7 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
Barre collapsing on the high strings. In a barre voicing of Adim7, the high strings are the ones that buzz first, because the index finger presses hardest near the thumb. If the top notes of Adim7 sound dead, roll the barring finger slightly toward the fret and press from the arm, not from squeezing the neck. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes A, C, D#, F# in Adim7.
Playing the wrong 7th. The 7th here is F#, a double-flattened 7th. Play G and you have the half-diminished chord instead. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in Adim7.
Where Adim7 is used
Adim7 is not a diatonic triad in any major or minor key, because it is an extended or altered chord, but its base triad belongs to the key of C major, the key of F major, the key of G major. the vii°7 chord in harmonic minor, leading to the minor tonic. As a dominant-type chord it also points toward D major, the key a perfect fourth above A, which is the tonic it most often resolves to. That is where Adim7 does its work: not as a home chord, but as a chord that creates movement and then resolves. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes A, C, D#, F# in Adim7.
Because Adim7 is an extended or altered chord, it appears in progressions as a colour or a dominant rather than as a diatonic staple. Try it in place of the plain A triad in a progression you already know, and listen to how the extra notes change the feel — that substitution is the usual way extended chords enter real music. The Chord Progression Builder lets you try Adim7 in a progression in any key and hear how it connects to the chords around it. On the guitar, start with the first voicing above and listen for the notes A, C, D#, F# in Adim7.
The same chord on other instruments is covered in Adim7 on piano, Adim7 on ukulele, Adim7 on bass, and the scales that fit over it are the A major scale and the A minor pentatonic scale. Learning Adim7 on the guitar and then checking it on another instrument is one of the best ways to fix the notes — A, C, D#, F# — in your memory, because the notes stay the same while everything else changes.
Practising Adim7
A short worked example makes Adim7 concrete. Play the four-chord progression D – A – Bm – G in D major, the key Adim7 most often resolves toward: D – A – Bm – G. Play each chord for one bar at a slow tempo, and listen to how Adim7 sounds in that sequence — whether it feels like home, like a lift, or like a chord on its way somewhere else. Then play the same four chords in a different order, starting on Adim7 itself, and notice how its character changes when it opens the progression instead of sitting inside it. On the guitar, the movable voicing of Adim7 puts those notes under your fingers in the order the fingering lists them.
For a second exercise, play Adim7 and then the chord a fourth above A, back and forth, four times each. That move — a chord and the chord a fourth above it — is the most common resolution in Western music, and it is the move Adim7 is built for when it acts as a dominant. Finish by playing Adim7 on its own, slowly, and naming each note out loud as you play it: A, C, D#, F#. Naming the notes while you play them is what turns a shape into knowledge you can use in any key. Test yourself with the Practice Chord Quiz and keep time with the Metronome as the tempo rises. On the guitar, the movable voicing voicing is the place to hear it in Adim7.
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Adim7 on the guitar?
The first voicing is the movable voicing: frets 5–0–4–5–4–2, fingers 4–0–2–4–3–1, on the guitar. That voicing uses the notes A, C, D#, F#, and it is the one to learn first. The page above lists more voicings for Adim7, so you can choose the shape nearest the chords around it.
Is Adim7 hard to play on the guitar?
It depends on the voicing. The first voicing of Adim7 on the guitar is the easiest starting point, and the movable voicings further up the neck are harder because they need a barre or a wider stretch. Practise the first voicing cleanly at a slow tempo before you try the others, and the harder shapes will come more easily.
What is the easiest voicing of Adim7 on the guitar?
The movable voicing is the easiest voicing listed for Adim7 on the guitar: frets 5–0–4–5–4–2, fingers 4–0–2–4–3–1. Learn that shape first, get every note ringing cleanly, and only then move on to the alternative voicings further up the neck.
What notes are in Adim7?
Adim7 contains A, C, D#, F#: root A, minor 3rd C, diminished 5th D# and diminished 7th F#. The notes are all a minor 3rd apart, which is what makes the chord symmetrical. On the guitar, check the first voicing above for that note.
Why does Adim7 sound so tense?
Every interval in it is a minor 3rd, and the chord contains two tritones. There is no stable note to rest on, so the ear hears it as a chord that must move. On the guitar, check the first voicing above for that note.