B Diminished

Symbols:Bdim, B°, Bo
Scale Degree Formula:1-♭3-♭5
Interval Stack:m3 + m3
Notes:B, D, F
Hear this chord:▸ Guitar
Inversions:Bdim/D, Bdim/F

Construction

Using the scale degree formula, we first start with the B major scale, and number each note in the scale starting from 1 - these are the scale degrees. Next, we use the scale degree formula, in this case 1-♭3-♭5, to select notes from our enumerated scale. When a chord requires notes that are not in the scale, this is indicated with a flat (♭) or a sharp (#) along with the scale degree; a ♭3, for instance, would be one half-step down from the 3rd scale degree.
Alternatively, we can use the interval stack to construct our chord. With this approach, we first start with the lowest note of the chord (B), then move our first interval (m3), which brings us to our second note in the chord (D). We repeatedly apply each of the remaining intervals in the stack to get the full list of notes for our chord.
The diagram below shows how both the scale degree formula and interval stack methods result in the same selection of notes:
B1C♭2C#2D♭3D#3E4F♭5m3m3

Similar Chords

The following chords are similar to this chord and may be a suitable replacement in certain scenarios.

Chord TypeChords
Diminished 7thG#dim7, Fdim7, Ddim7, Bdim7
Diminished Major 7thBdimMaj7
Dominant 7thG7
Half-Diminished 7thBm7(b5)
MajorG, Bb
MinorDm, Bm
Minor 6thDm6

Associated Scales

This chord can be found in the following scales.

ScaleRoots
BluesB
DorianD
Dorian b5G#, F, D, B
Harmonic MajorA, F#, D#, C
Harmonic MinorA, F#, D#, C
Ionian #5A, F#, D#, C
LocrianB
Locrian bb7G#, F, D, B
Locrian ♮6G#, F, D, B
LydianF
Lydian #9G#, F, D, B
Lydian Augmented #2G#, F, D, B
Lydian b3G#, F, D, B
MajorC
MinorA
MixolydianG
Mixolydian b2Bb, G, E, C#
PhrygianE
Phrygian DominantBb, G, E, C#
Phrygian b4Bb, G, E, C#
Super-Locrian bb7G#, F, D, B
Ukrainian DorianG#, F, D, B

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