How to Play Fdim on Piano

The F Diminished chord sounds tense and unsettled. It stacks 3 notes: F – Ab – Cb.

Two stacked minor thirds. Its fifth is squeezed a semitone flat, so the chord has no stable footing and wants to move.

Notes in Fdim

NoteIntervalFinger
FF4Root1
AbAb4Minor 3rd3
CbCb5Diminished 5th5

How to Play

Right Hand

Place your thumb (finger 1) on F. Use finger 3 on Ab and finger 5 on Cb.

Where it sits

One note of this chord (Ab) is on black keys, so play it a little further back on the keys than an all-white shape.

Press all 3 keys at the same time. Keep your wrist relaxed and your fingers curved. The blue dots on the piano below show exactly which keys to press — they turn green when you play the right note.

Other Diminished Chords

Cdim
C – Eb – Gb
C#dim
C# – E – G
Ddim
D – F – Ab
D#dim
D# – F# – A
Edim
E – G – Bb
F#dim
F# – A – C
Gdim
G – Bb – Db
G#dim
G# – B – D
Adim
A – C – Eb
A#dim
A# – C# – E
Bdim
B – D – F

Other F Chords

F6
F – A – C – D
F7
F – A – C – Eb
F9
F – A – C – Eb – G
F
F – A – C
Fm
F – Ab – C
Fmaj7
F – A – C – E
Fm7
F – Ab – C – Eb
Faug
F – A – C#
Fsus2
F – G – C
Fsus4
F – Bb – C
Fdim7
F – Ab – Cb – Ebb
Fm6
F – Ab – C – D
Fadd9
F – A – C – G