Ukulele · diminished seventh
C♯dim7 Chord on Ukulele
C# Diminished 7th is C#, E, G, Bb — the 1-b3-b5-bb7 pattern of a diminished seventh chord. Here is the shape, the audio, and what usually goes wrong.
There is no open C#dim7 on ukulele — the single shape below is a barre, which is exactly why this chord trips people up. Take it slowly and check every string.
Start here — Movable Dim7 Shape (3rd fret)
Barre at fret 3 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other diminished seventh chord.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Movable Dim7 Shape (3rd fret) — barred at fret 3.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
C#dim7 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on ukulele.
C#dim7 on Ukulele — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play C#dim7 on ukulele?
“Movable Dim7 Shape (3rd fret)” — which we rate intermediate — is the easiest C#dim7 shape on ukulele. Barre at fret 3 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other diminished seventh chord. There is no open C#dim7 on ukulele, so a barre is unavoidable; this is the least demanding one.
What notes are in the C# Diminished 7th chord?
C# Diminished 7th is C#, E, G, Bb — the 1-b3-b5-bb7 interval pattern of a diminished seventh chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
What can I play instead of C#dim7?
The nearest stand-ins on ukulele that keep the same root are C#m, C#m7, C#dim. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play C#dim7 on other instruments?
Yes. C#dim7 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, banjo.
Learn the theory behind C#dim7
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.
Barre Chords — The Wall Every Guitarist Climbs
This one asks for a barre. The article is the fix for the buzzing and the aching hand.
7 min read
Functional Harmony: Three Roles, One Engine
Diminished chords are almost always doing a job. This explains which one.
6 min read
Cadences — The Four Ways a Phrase Ends
Where all that tension goes — how the chord resolves into the next one.
4 min read