How to play B diminished mandolin chords

Overview

There are many positions (ways, variants etc.) to play the B diminished mandolin chord.

In this article you can find the most common mandolin chord positions – displayed on the slideshow above, fingered for your convenience. To help you understand how to play them, I have included step-by-step instructions, describing where to place each finger on the mandolin fret-board and what note this will produce. Finally, the article includes a chord chart with all possible mandolin chord positions for future reference, feel free to print it.

What is a B diminished (Cdim) chord?

The Bdim is a triad chord, i.e. it consists of three notes as following:

The root, which for the Bdim chord is of course B
The third, which for the Bdim chord is D. Note that this creates a minor third interval that consists of three half steps (B to C, C to Db, Db to D)
The fifth, which for the Bdim chord is F. Note again that this creates another minor third interval that consists of three half steps (D to Eb, Eb to E, E to F) and therefore it creates a diminished fifth interval from the root that contains six half steps (B to C, C to Db, Db to D, D to Eb, Eb to E, E to F)

Note that half steps correspond to one fret difference between notes played on the same string.

See how the Bdim chord is written on sheet paper:

If you want to understand more on chords theory, i.e. how they are constructed, check out the following popular article I have written some time ago: Understanding Chords Theory.

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.

[sc:vextab] [sc:vexfretboard] I will now show you how to play diminished B chords with a mandolin.

First Position – Bdim/I (4-0-2-1)

Let’s start with the first position (B-D-B-F). In standard notation, it looks like this:

options space=20 player=false instrument=acoustic_guitar_nylon
tabstave notation=true tablature=true time=4/4 strings=4 tuning=E/5,A/4,D/4,G/3
notes :w (4/4.0/3.2/2.1/1) =:: :q 4/4 0/3 2/2 1/1=|=

This is how to play it on the mandolin

fretboard
option strings=4
show frets=4 string=4 text=B
show frets=0 string=3 text=D
show frets=2 string=2 text=B
show frets=1 string=1 text=F

fretboard
option strings=4
show frets=4 string=4 text=4
show frets=0 string=3 text=0
show frets=2 string=2 text=2
show frets=1 string=1 text=1

Second Position – Bdim/II (4-3-5-1)

In standard notation, it looks like this (press the play button to hear it):

options space=20 player=false instrument=acoustic_guitar_nylon
tabstave notation=true tablature=false
notes (B/3.F/4.D/5.F/5)=::B/3 F/4 D/5 F/5=|=

This is how to play it on the mandolin

fretboard
option strings=4
show frets=4 string=4 text=B
show frets=3 string=3 text=F
show frets=5 string=2 text=D
show frets=1 string=1 text=F

fretboard
option strings=4
show frets=4 string=4 text=3
show frets=3 string=3 text=2
show frets=5 string=2 text=4
show frets=1 string=1 text=1

Check the Chord Chart for Bdim 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:

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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!

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