Hey Friend,

Better late than never, right? For F#° chords (remember, the little degree symbol means 'diminished' in music notation), I mean.

Exercise files

There are ten unique positions up the neck, with eight different shapes you can use. In fact, two of the shapes are already familiar to you from the CAGED system - C (and G) and D.

Here's how the chords are broken down. The first four chords are Root inversions. Their note order from the lowest pitch to the highest is 1 3 5. This order keeps you within one octave of the scale. So the notes are F#, A and C.

The next three chords are 1st inversions. Now the note usage shifts a little to include notes in two octaves of the scale. The note order is 3 5 1, so you're looking at A, C and F#.

The last three chords are 2nd inversions. We shift further into the next octave, and the at gives us the note order of 5 1 3. The notes for the chord are C, F# and A. 

Take a look at the tabs PDF. Can you identify which chord shapes come from our friendly CAGED system? Here's what I find interesting  These shapes played on different strings give us major chords, but shift them to a new position on the neck and they create a completely different sound - not major, not minor, and not even all that pleasant on its own.

Diminished chords need to have major and minor chords to interact with to give their sound context and movement. Go back to the intro tabs and play F# then F#°. Better still, play F#° and then G major. Notice how F#dim seems to need G major to complete it (you can play the last F#° shape and then play a G major across the twelfth fret barring the second, third and fourth strings).

As I play that, I hear the intro chords to a song by Supertramp called "Give a Little Bit."  I'm relying on my memory of the album cut, and we're not necessarily in the same key, but I like that I can hear a chord combination and it triggers a memory of a song. Hopefully you hear it, too!

Try these out and find the ones that are most easy for you to play. Some of them require a stretch, and those are good exercises, but you shouldn't have any trouble playing a D shape by now.

Enjoy your Friday - WEEKEND, YEAH!!!

Peace~

Dave