Editing Diminution (section)

===Diminished chords===
[[Image:Diminished triad on C.png|thumb|125px|right|Diminished triad on C {{Audio|Diminished triad on C.mid|play}}.]]
A [[diminished triad]] consists of two superposed [[minor third]]s, and thus contains a [[diminished fifth]]. In classical repertoire the usual symbol {{music|dim}} resembles the [[degree symbol]], as in vii{{music|dim}}. In lead sheets and popular music books it is usually written Cdim or C{{music|dim}}.

[[Image:Diminished seventh chord on C.png|thumb|125px|left|Diminished seventh chord on C {{audio|Diminished seventh chord on C.mid|Play}}.]]
A [[diminished seventh chord]] consists of three superposed minor thirds, and thus has all successive notes a minor third apart; it contains two diminished fifths. In jazz theory, a diminished seventh chord has four available tensions, each a major ninth above the chord tones, and thus forming a diminished seventh chord a whole tone (or major ninth) above the root chord. Because any chord tone of the diminished seventh can be heard as the root, the tensions are not numbered as ninth, eleventh and so on. The usual notation is Cdim<sup>7</sup> or C{{music|dim}}<sup>7</sup>, but some lead sheets or popular music books may omit the 7.

[[Image:Half-diminished seventh chord on C.png|thumb|125px|right|[[Half-diminished seventh chord]] on C ({{Audio|Half-diminished seventh chord on C.mid|Play}}).]]
A diminished triad with a minor seventh is a half-diminished chord, usually notated either Cm<sup>7({{Music|flat}}5)</sup> or C<sup>ø7</sup>. A diminished triad played over a root a major third away creates a Dominant 7th chord, notated C<sup>7</sup>, with a C Major triad on the bottom, and an E° from the chord third of C (<SPAN STYLE="text-decoration:overline">C <u>E G</u></span><u> B{{Music|flat}}</u>). A minor third below would give a fully diminished 7th chord which is made entirely of minor thirds that evenly divide an octave. This even division of the octave leaves us with only three unique diminished 7th chords: C E<sup>{{Music|flat}}</sup> G<sup>{{Music|flat}}</sup> B<sup>{{Music|doubleflat}}</sup>, C<sup>{{Music|sharp}}</sup> E G B<sup>{{Music|flat}}</sup>, and D F A<sup>{{Music|flat}}</sup> C<sup>{{Music|flat}}</sup>, as all other diminished 7th chords are inversions of one of those three.

[[File:Diminishedchords.png|thumb|Diminished chords with sheet music and tab.]]