Overview
There are many positions (ways, variants etc.) to play the A diminished mandolin chord.
In this article I will help you play the most common mandolin chord positions for Adim fingered for your convenience. To help you understand how to play them, I have included a music theory quick explanation for you to understand what is a Adim chord. I also created step-by-step instructions, describing where to place each finger on the mandolin fret-board and what note this will produce for the first two positions of Adim. Finally, the article includes a chord chart with all possible mandolin chord positions for future reference, feel free to print it and practice.
What is a A diminished (Adim) chord?
The Adim is a triad chord, i.e. it consists of three notes as following:
If you need a blank sheet paper to write it down in order to understand it, you can download one from theMandolinTuner free blank music paper sheet.
Playing Adim on the mandolin
Chord Name | Notes | Frets | Fingers |
---|---|---|---|
Adim – I | A-Eb-C-A | 2-3-1-5 | 2-1-3-4 |
Adim/C – II | C-A-Eb-A | 5-7-6-5 | 1-3-2-1 (barre) |
Adim/Eb – III | Eb-A-Eb-C | 8-7-6-8 | 3-2-1-4 |
Adim/Eb – IV | Eb-C-A-Eb | 8-10-12-8 | 1-3-4-1 |
Adim – V | A-C-A-Eb | 8-10-12-8 | 4-1-3-2 |
Adim – VI | A-Eb-C-Eb | 14-13-15-11 | 3-2-4-1 |
Below we take a closer look at the two first variants.
First Position – Adim/I
In terms of notes, this chord is A-Eb-C-A. In terms of frets it is 2-3-1-5, and in terms of fingers it is 2-1-3-4. Is this too complex? The figures below will help you understand it.
How fingers are placed
option strings=4
show frets=2 string=4 text=2
show frets=1 string=3 text=1
show frets=3 string=2 text=3
show frets=5 string=1 text=4
How notes are mapped on the fretboard
tabstave notation=true tablature=true time=4/4 strings=4 tuning=E/5,A/4,D/4,G/3
notes :w (2/4.E@4_1/3.3/2.5/1)=:: 2/4 E@4_1/3 3/2 5/1=|=
This is how the notes are mapped on the mandolin
option strings=4
show frets=2 string=4 text=A
show frets=1 string=3 text=Eb
show frets=3 string=2 text=C
show frets=5 string=1 text=A
Second Position – Adim/II
Let’s continue with the second position. In terms of notes, this chord is C-A-Eb-A. In terms of frets it is 5-7-6-5, and in terms of fingers it is 1-3-2-1. Is this too complex? The figures below will help you understand it.
How fingers are placed
option strings=4
show frets=5 string=4 text=1
show frets=5 string=3 text=1
show frets=5 string=2 text=1
show frets=7 string=3 text=3
show frets=6 string=2 text=2
show frets=5 string=1 text=1
In standard notation, it looks like this:
tabstave notation=true tablature=true time=4/4 strings=4 tuning=E/5,A/4,D/4,G/3
notes (5/4.7/3.E@5_6/2.5/1)=::5/4 7/3 E@5_6/2 5/1=|=
This is how the notes are mapped on the mandolin fretboard:
option strings=4
show frets=5 string=4 text=C
show frets=7 string=3 text=A
show frets=6 string=2 text=Eb
show frets=5 string=1 text=A
Check the Chord Chart for Adim to see all the positions
Go ahead and experiment!
How to Practice chords on the mandolin
There are many good articles here at theMandolinTuner for practicing chords. I suggest you start with:
Call to action
Ok, it is now time to practice. Grab your mandolin and try to play these chord variants now, it is easy, just follow the instructions!
Resources
[sc:button-subscribe]