Converting A to A^o (diminished)

It is not as common to play 3 note diminished chords as it is to play 4 note diminished 7th chords, but here we show how you could make an A diminished chord. An A chord is A(1), C(3), and E(5). An A diminished is A(1), C(3), and E(5).

So to convert and A to an A diminished I'm going to lower the C(3) on the 2nd string down a half step to C(3). And also I am going to lower the E(5) on the 4th string down to E(5). There is one slight problem in our conversion though. I can't lower the E(5) on the first string open. So I need to do one of 2 things.

1. Find another A, C or E note to play on the 1st string. A would be at the 5th fret, C at the 8th fret, and E at the 11th fret. So none of those are very good options.

2. Mute the first string, and in this case that is the only option. Sometimes there is no good option, and in that case your conversion will not work. There are not a lot of great way to play 3 note diminished chords, so you may find some dead ends if you are trying convert other basic major and minor chords into diminished chord forms.

Here is a suggested fingering for the chord.

Page 3, Converting A to A+

Page 5, Converting A to Asus2