Hey Friend,

D#° has a lot of options to offer you up the neck. That's a good thing, as some of these diminished chords can be a bear (especially if you're trying out a barre chord version). 

I will say that playing through each version of the chord will help you increase your finger range. Some of these buggers require a nice stretch your hand will complain about, but stretching is good!

Probably the easiest D#° chord is found in the open position. It's a 1st inversion chord, so your note order is 3 5 1 (F# A D#). This particular one is the sixth chord system shown in the exercise.

My favorite, though, is located at the seventh fret. It uses the basic D shape. It's played on the second, third and fourth strings, which makes it an easy jump up to the ninth fret to play the E major (taking it back home to the root chord). I show you this one on the second to last system.

Don't get hung up on the fact that there are thirteen possibilities here. After all, options are good thing, right?

The more you play, the easier chords become and you'll find yourself relying on a core set of chords you go to all the time. And that's cool...

But sometimes it really pays to have some specialty chords - shapes you don't typically play (like basic open CAGED shapes or power chords). Swapping in a lower or higher pitched version of your normal go-to chord can breathe new life into a progression.

It can also be very inspiring. You hear new nuances of the notes and chord combinations.

When you play these, don't just play them to get through the exercise. Really listen to the notes and how they combine to create this chord sound.

No sense teasing you any longer... here are the exercise files:

Peace~

Dave