The Diminished Chord - Rare But Awesome!

I was listening to one of my favorite lesser-known Ben Folds Five songs, Eddie Walker, and was struck by all the diminished chords in the bridge. There is a particularly epic one at the end of the bridge, in multi-part harmony, leading to the final chorus. The bridge starts around 1:43 (pardon the weird video):

The big moment is at 2:08 and it might be my favorite diminished chord ever, both for the musical power and the unusual way it is used. (diminished iv chord leading to iii)

This got me wondering why diminished chords are so uncommon in pop music, and what well-known songs have them. I racked my brain to think of some that people would know and am highlighting a few of my favorites. But first:

What is a diminished chord?

The diminished chord is one of the four major types of triads that make up most of Western music. Here they are in C:

Major and minor chords, in one shape or another, constitute most western pop music. Diminished and augmented chords are much much less common. They are the libertarian and green parties of the music world.

The diminished chord has the 3rd and 5th steps flatted, and has a "tense" sound when taken out of context:

The chord is seen prominently in classical music and in Jazz and show tunes (particularly older ones). It is hard to imagine Bach or Joplin without it. In Baroque and Classical music, as well as in old standards it is typically used as a substitute for the V chord, often as a passing chord between two adjacent chords. See, for example, the first few measures of the Rodgers/Hart classic Bewitched:

The diminished 7th chord has an extra note, the double-flatted 7 (or six), but for aural purposes is almost always interchangeable with a regular diminished chord, so for this article I'm focusing on either one. I am not including its distant cousin, the half-diminished chord, which serves a different purpose and is a topic for another day.

---

Example 1 - Garth Brooks, Friends in Low Places

I choose Friends in Low Places because Garth Brooks spells it out so unambiguously on the guitar, only seconds into the song. It works just like the diminished chord in the first couple measures of Bewitched above, as a bridge between the I and ii chords. I like thinking that this song probably single-handedly made thousands of amateur guitarists everywhere have to learn a new, completely different chord from the open G, C, and D they were used to.

Example 2 - Michael Jackson, Thriller

The chord is at :33, right before the whole band kicks in. I love the way it adds to the tension and gives the song a gothic feel. It is also unusual in that it is not used as a leading tone chord. The diminished chord is based on the tonic, yet somehow feels like it's leading to the tonic at the same time.

Example 3 - Plush, Stone Temple Pilots

Every kid who owned a guitar in 1992 knew how to play this song. The second chord of the intro riff is diminished. This is another unusual use of the chord, as a diminished i6, leading up to a kind of ii65 chord. With out the distorted guitars this could sound very barber shop, and might work well in a mash-up with Moonglow.

Example 4 - We Are The Champions, Queen

It's not so difficult to find diminished chords in Queen songs. Bohemian Rhapsody has many, particularly in the neo-opratic parts of the songs. Champions has some great ones in the chorus, after "til the end" and the second "we are the champions!" after that. It's easy to imagine how the song could have been written without those chords, and it wouldn't sound nearly as triumphant.

---

I thought of many other songs while writing this post. Here is a short list; I'm sure many more will come to me in the future, now that I am listening for them.

Benny and the Jets, Elton John - there is a diminished chord in the verse, again bridging the I and ii chords.

God Only Knows, The Beach Boys - this is one of my favorites, because of the unusual way it is approached and the melody over it.

Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel - the chorus contains a couple diminished chords, which help give it a gospel feel.

Michelle, The Beatles - with the lyric "go together" in the verse, there is an ingenious diminished chord, outlined in the melody and supported by the backup vocals.

This Love, Maroon 5 - I love this one. The fourth chord in the verse sounds very Bach-esque and does not lead you directly back to i, as you would suspect, but to a V6 chord.

If I Ain't Got You, Alicia Keys - in the second stanza of the verse, she uses a diminished chord between I and ii instead of the vi that she plays in the first stanza.

Shed a Little Light, James Taylor - the opening chord and a couple during the moving part are diminished.

She's Out of my Life, Michael Jackson - this song has a very prominent and unusual diminished I (or inverted I) chord early in each verse.

Please let me know if you think of any other good ones!