Guitar UpscaleHalf Diminished Chord (m7b5) on guitar
A half diminished chord is a diminished triad with a flat seventh, the ii chord of a minor key.
| Written as | Cm7b5 |
|---|---|
| Formula | 1 b3 b5 b7 |
| Notes in C | C Eb Gb Bb |
| Semitones from the root | 0, 3, 6, 10 |
About the Half Diminished Chord
Bm7b5 is B, D, F and A. It is the 7th chord on the 7th note of a major key.
In a minor key it starts the minor ii to V to i, such as Bm7b5, E7, Am.
Jazz players solo over it with Locrian or Locrian #2.
Intervals
- 1: Root, 0 semitones above the root
- b3: Minor 3rd, 3 semitones above the root
- b5: Tritone, 6 semitones above the root
- b7: Minor 7th, 10 semitones above the root
Half Diminished Chord charts in all 12 keys
Each chart shows the strings from the thick low E on the left to the thin high e on the right. Numbers in the dots are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 little, T thumb. × marks a muted string and ○ an open one. A bar across strings is a barre.
Cm7b5: C Eb Gb Bb
Gm7b5: G Bb Db F
Dm7b5: D F Ab C
Am7b5: A C Eb G
Em7b5: E G Bb D
Bm7b5: B D F A
F#m7b5: F# A C E
C#m7b5: C# E G B
G#m7b5: G# B D F#
Ebm7b5: Eb Gb A Db
Bbm7b5: Bb Db Fb Ab
Fm7b5: F Ab Cb Eb
Scales to play over Cm7b5
Each of these scales, started on C, holds every note of the chord:
- C Locrian Mode
- C Locrian with a Natural Fifth
- C Harmonic Minor Bebop with a Raised Fourth
- C Magen Avot
- C Romanian Minor (Ukrainian Dorian)
- C Hungarian Major
- C Spanish Eight Tone
- C Blues Scale
- C Blues Scale with a Major Seventh
- C Blues Scale with Both Thirds
- C Chromatic Blues Scale
- C Mixo-Blues Scale
- C Diminished (Half Whole)
- C Diminished Whole Tone
- C Locrian #2 (Half Diminished)
- C Locrian Natural 6