B♭dim ukulele chord

Tense and unstable. Both the third and the fifth are flattened, producing a chord that badly wants to move somewhere else.

B♭ diminished · standard GCEA tuning · 3 shapes

How to Play B♭dim on Ukulele

The easiest shape is 3101: G string 3rd fret · C string 1st fret · E string open · A string 1st fret.

Bbdim ukulele chord, Open position

Open position

3 1 0 1

Bbdim ukulele chord, Barre at fret 44

Barre at fret 4

6 4 6 4

Bbdim ukulele chord, Up the neck, fret 77

Up the neck, fret 7

9 10 9 7

Strings left to right are G, C, E and A, as the ukulele faces you. Numbers are frets; 0 means play the string open. Every shape is worked out from the notes the chord must contain and checked against them before it is published.

Notes in B♭dim

B♭
root
D♭
♭3rd
F♭
♭5th

A ukulele has four strings, so a 3-note chord doubles one of its notes on the spare string. Because the G string is tuned high (reentrant tuning), the lowest note you hear is usually on the C or E string, not the G.

Songs and Keys That Use B♭dim

B♭dim belongs to one major key: B major (as the vii° chord).

  • vii° – I — a tense chord resolving straight home

B♭dim on Other Instruments

  • Guitar: see the B♭dim guitar chord — six strings, so the shapes are different, but the notes are the same.
  • Baritone ukulele (DGBE): 2320. A baritone is tuned like the top four strings of a guitar, so guitar shapes carry over and standard-ukulele shapes do not. Tune one with the baritone ukulele tuner.

Tune first

A right shape on an out-of-tune ukulele still sounds wrong. Check G, C, E and A in a few seconds.

Open the Ukulele Tuner →