Edim Chord on Guitar
Edim = E – G – A# (Root, Minor 3rd, Tritone)
Edim is the first diminished chord in this set to land in open position rather than up on a barre, since E itself is an open string — but the diminished shape still shrinks both the third and fifth compared to plain E major, and the B string ends up muted rather than fretted, just as it does at the eleventh-fret D#dim version.
E, G, and A# (Bb) make up the triad — root, minor third, diminished fifth. As the leading-tone chord (vii°) of F major, Edim pulls strongly upward toward the F tonic, since diminished triads built on a key's seventh degree characteristically create tension that resolves by moving a half step up into the chord that follows.
Fingerings
Open Position
How to Practice It
Open position makes the required B-string mute noticeably easier to control than the same mute would be up at a cramped barre fret, since the hand has more natural room to angle a finger against the unwanted string without disturbing its neighbors. Spend time resolving straight from Edim into F major and back, listening specifically for that half-step leading-tone pull — hearing it clearly is really the whole point of learning this chord.
Common Progressions
- Edim – F (vii° – I, the classic leading-tone resolution)
- Dm – Edim – F (vi – vii° – I)
- Bb – Edim – F (IV – vii° – I)
- F – Edim – Dm (I – vii°-related motion – vi)
FAQ
- Why does Edim need a muted string rather than a full six-string fretting?
- Diminished triads only contain three distinct notes, and on six strings that means at least one string has to be left out entirely — here it's the B string, muted so it doesn't ring an unwanted pitch against the rest of the chord.
- Where does Edim resolve?
- Up a half step to F major, functioning as that key's leading-tone diminished triad (vii°), the same fundamental relationship any vii° chord has to its tonic regardless of key.
- Is Edim easy to play in open position?
- Reasonably so — only two extra fingers are needed on the A and D strings, and muting the B string is more manageable here than at a cramped barre fret, since open position gives the hand more natural room.
- How does Edim compare to D#dim, built from the same shape?
- The fingering pattern is identical, but Edim sits in open position with wider string spacing, while D#dim barres the same shape at the tight eleventh fret, making Edim the noticeably easier of the two to fret cleanly.
- Why do diminished triads sound so unresolved?
- Stacking two minor thirds produces a diminished fifth instead of a triad's usual stable perfect fifth, and that unstable interval is exactly what gives diminished chords their characteristic searching, tension-filled color.
- Does Edim ever function outside of F major?
- It can also serve as vii° of F harmonic minor in certain minor-key contexts, since both F major and F harmonic minor share E as their leading tone, giving this chord a second plausible resolution depending on the surrounding harmony.
- Is the plain diminished triad more or less common than the diminished seventh in real playing?
- Less common — guitarists more often reach for the fuller diminished-seventh chord, which carries a richer, more standard jazz and classical color, with the plain triad showing up mostly in simpler passing or classical-adjacent contexts.
Edim on other instruments: Edim on Piano, Edim on Ukulele. Related: how chords are built, chord finder.