E Diminished (Edim)
1+b3+b5
Notes in E Diminished
E (root)GBb
Inversions
Same notes as E Diminished, with a different chord tone as the lowest note. Useful for smoother movement between chords instead of jumping around the keyboard.
Root position
E in the bass
1st inversion
G in the bass (Edim/G)
2nd inversion
Bb in the bass (Edim/Bb)
E Diminished is built from E, G and Bb.
Stack two minor thirds and the fifth shrinks along with the third, producing a triad that never feels at rest. Diminished chords are unstable by design, built to lean somewhere else, usually resolving up by a half step. Played alone it can sound almost comical, but tucked between two other chords it's one of the most useful tension devices in tonal music.