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Step 1
Lay out your chromatic scale. If you are beyond the basic major and minor, you should already know how the scale works. If not, the handy scale intro at Musician's Friend will help out.
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Step 2
Take the first scale note, the note the chord and key are named after. For example, if you're playing in the key of C, your first note is C, for the key of G, G, and so on. You'll be liberally sprinkling your diminished guitar chord with this note to reinforce the sound that marks it as a chord in that particular key.
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Step 3
Find the third scale note and flat it. For example, your C major chord would have third scale note of E, but for a diminished chord, you would play a D# instead. The minor and diminished chords both flat the third scale note.
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Step 4
Go beyond minor by flatting the fifth scale note. Where the minor chord of a key has a flat third and a regular fifth, the diminished chord includes both a flatted third and a flatted fifth, for an even more exotic and even borderline dissonant sound. Flatting the third and fifth scale notes gives the diminished chord its flavor.
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Step 5
Take your first, flatted third, and flatted fifth scale notes and apply them to the fretboard. For our example in the key of C, you would add C, D#, and F# to the fretboard to create a C diminished chord. Take care not to include any other notes that will change the sound of the chord.
