Play Cm7b53 shapes
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12 diagrams · 12 playable
Play C#m7b53 shapes
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Anatomy
m7b5 Chord Formula
The 4 scale degrees that form every m7b5 chord — in any key.
I
Root0 st
♭III
Minor 3rd+3 st
♭V
Diminished 5th+6 st
♭VII
Minor 7th+10 st
A half-diminished chord is a minor 7th chord with the 5th lowered a half step. The bottom three notes form a diminished triad, but the 7th stays a minor 7th rather than dropping to a diminished one — so the chord is only half diminished. That lowered 5th is what makes it restless: it wants to move, and it almost always moves to a dominant 7th.
Applied to B: B (root) – D (minor 3rd) – F (diminished 5th) – A (minor 7th). Applied to D: D – F – A♭ – C. Applied to E: E – G – B♭ – D.
About this tool
About m7b5 Chords on Guitar
A minor 7th flat 5 chord — written m7b5, m7♭5, ø7, or called half-diminished, all four names for the same chord — has four notes: the root, a minor 3rd, a diminished 5th and a minor 7th. The formula is 1 – ♭3 – ♭5 – ♭7, so Bm7b5 is B, D, F and A. Start from a minor 7th chord and lower the 5th one fret, and that is the whole difference. The bottom three notes are a diminished triad, which is where the name comes from: the triad is diminished but the 7th is not. Its natural home is the minor ii–V–i — Bm7b5, E7, Am in A minor — the progression behind minor-key jazz standards, bossa nova and a good deal of neo-soul. It is also the vii chord of every major key: Bm7b5 is the one chord in C major built on a diminished triad. Two chords are easy to confuse with it. A dim7 chord has the same bottom three notes but lowers the 7th another half step, which makes it a stack of equal minor 3rds. A plain m7 chord keeps the perfect 5th. And one chord is identical to it: the m6 chord built on its minor 3rd — Bm7b5 and Dm6 are the same four notes, and the bass decides the name. Every shape on these pages keeps the root lowest. Each root gets three voicings: an A-string root grip, an E-string root grip, and a four-string form rooted on the D string, plus an open-position shape for E.
- 01Built from 4 notes: root, minor 3rd, diminished 5th, and minor 7th (formula 1 – ♭3 – ♭5 – ♭7)
- 02A minor 7th chord with the 5th lowered a half step
- 03Also written m7♭5, ø7, or called half-diminished — one chord, four names
- 04The ii chord of the minor ii–V–i, and the vii chord of the major scale
- 05Distinct from dim7 (the 7th is a half step lower) and m7 (perfect 5th)
- 06Shares all four notes with the m6 built on its minor 3rd — Bm7b5 and Dm6 differ only in the bass
- 07Open-position shapes for Dm7b5, Em7b5 and Am7b5
- 08Three or four voicings per root: A-string root grip, E-string root grip, D-string form, and an open shape for E
Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
An m7b5 chord — minor 7th flat 5, also called half-diminished — is a minor 7th chord with the 5th lowered a half step. Bm7b5 contains B, D, F and A. It sounds dark and restless, and it almost always moves on to a dominant 7th chord.
The formula is 1 – ♭3 – ♭5 – ♭7: root, minor third (+3 semitones), diminished fifth (+6) and minor seventh (+10). Applied to B that is B, D, F and A; applied to C it is C, E♭, G♭ and B♭.
Yes. m7b5, m7♭5, ø7 and half-diminished are four names for one chord. It is called half-diminished because the triad underneath (1 – ♭3 – ♭5) is diminished, but the 7th is a minor 7th rather than a diminished one.
The 7th. Both chords share the root, minor 3rd and diminished 5th. Bm7b5 adds A, a minor 7th; Bdim7 adds A♭, a diminished 7th, one half step lower. That makes dim7 a stack of four equal minor 3rds, while m7b5 is not symmetrical.
The 5th. Bm7 is B, D, F# and A; Bm7b5 lowers the F# to F. The root, minor 3rd and minor 7th are the same in both. That one half step turns a smooth, settled chord into one that wants to resolve.
They contain the same four notes — B, D, F and A. The bass note decides the name: with B lowest it is Bm7b5, with D lowest it is Dm6. Every m7b5 chord has an m6 twin built on its minor 3rd, so Cm7b5 matches E♭m6 and Em7b5 matches Gm6.
Most often as the ii chord of a minor key, in the minor ii–V–i: Bm7b5 – E7 – Am in A minor, or Dm7b5 – G7 – Cm in C minor. It is also the vii chord of a major key — Bm7b5 in C major — and is common in jazz standards, bossa nova and neo-soul.
Dm7b5 (x-x-0-1-1-1), which is one finger laid flat across the top three strings at fret 1. Am7b5 (x-0-1-0-1-x) needs only two fingers, and Em7b5 (0-1-2-0-3-0) needs three and rings on all six strings.
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