Diminished Chords

I can never seem to use diminished chords properly. And I also wonder why they kinda sound like crap. I've been playing for years, have a good understanding of diatonic chords, and anyone can read a chord poster.

Not really sure what you are asking here, but check it out man.

The Art of Shredding Part 3

How long have you been playing?
-(and are you aided by a teacher?)

if i know these i can answer properly. :)

RAWK!
Cs

Diminished chords have a very clashing sound. They are supposed to: There are tones in there that are trying to lead you into a new sound. If you want to see how diminished chords are supposed to be played, I'm pretty sure there are are a lot of Back chorals that use diminished chords for turnarounds.

If you want something more recent, Pink Floyd uses diminished chords in almost all of their songs. See how they use it and how they lead into a tonic.

As well, I'm pretty sure some virtuoso guitarists use diminished chords constantly in their solo music. I'd check some of that stuff out. Can't think of any names right now.

Good luck!

Diminished chords to me sound dark. You can make a very dark sound, evil sound by making a progression of only dim chords. Dark jazz if you will.

Certain dim chords are part of the major and minor scale, and along with others scales. It sometimes adds a jazzy sound to a progression. For example in the E major scale, D# dim is part of that scale. In the E minor scale its F# dim. Major and minor scales only have one diminished chord.

They are a great way to accent the end of a progression. Great for making a 4/4 riff a 5/4 riff, etc etc. Great for key changes aswell. More complex scales have more diminished chords to choose from.