How Can Diminished 7th Chords Resolve?

R Brotherhood

The only place the diminished 7th chord appears naturally is the 7th degree of harmonic minor
(the leading tone chord), which tends to resolve up 1/2 step.

A‹ B‹7(b5) C&Œ„Š7 D‹7 E7 FŒ„Š7 G©º A‹

1 3 5 6 9 10 12 13
2 2 4 5 7 9 10 14
2 3 6 7 9 10 12 14
0 2 3 5 7 8 11 12

The dim7 chord is symmetrical in that it consists of 4 minor 3rd intervasl:

G# - min 3rd - B - min 3rd - D - min 3rd - F - (aug 2nd = min 3rd) - G#.
Because of that symmetry, an isolated dim7 chord might represent 4 keys.

9 A minor F# minor E flat minor C minor

G©º A‹ E©º F©‹ Dº E¨‹ Bº C‹

4 5 4 2 4 2 4 3
3 5 3 2 3 4 3 4
4 5 4 2 4 3 4 5
3 7 3 4 3 1 3 5
3

So ... any note of a dim 7th chord can resolve upward to a minor (or even a major) chord.
Another way dim 7th chords can resolve is to any chord that has the SAME root as the dim 7.
Remember that any of the 4 notes of a dim 7th can be the root b/c of the symmetry. Again,
these could resolve to any maj or min chord. Let's try resolving to dom 7th chords.
17

B¨º B¨7 Gº G7 Eº E7 C©º C©7

5 6 5 6 5 5 5 6
6 7 6 7 6 7 6 6
5 6 5 5 5 6 5 6
6 6 6 7 6 7 6 7

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