D♯dim

D♯1F♯♭3A♭5

Two minor thirds stacked. The fifth is diminished, so it cannot be dropped without losing the chord.

Written the other way round it is E♭dim — the same twelve keys on a piano, a different piece of notation.

on guitar on piano the scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

x320

open

Fig. 3

8656

hard

Fig. 4

865x

easy

Fig. 5

89b9

hard

What is true of it

D♯dim is D♯, F♯ and A — 1, b3 and b5 counted from D♯.

The easiest of the 4 fingerings below is x320: 2 fingers, held at the 2nd fret.

1 of them use open strings, which is what makes a shape quiet to change to.

1 string stays silent.

Where its notes are on the neck

Fig. 6 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are D♯, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

D♯dim/F♯

x656

second inversion

D♯dim/A

2320

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

D♯ in other shapes

D♯major D♯mminor D♯augaugmented D♯5power chord D♯sus2suspended second D♯sus4suspended fourth

Cdim C♯dim D♭dim Ddim Edim Fdim F♯dim G♭dim all 374