Sevenths
A half-diminished 7th chord
Dark and unresolved; often the ii chord in a minor key.
Am7♭5 is the viiø7 chord in B♭ major. In minor keys: iiø7 in G minor.
- Notes
- ACE♭G
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th · minor 7th
How to play Am7♭5
About the A half-diminished 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, Am7♭5 has an open-position shape, x01013, using three fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E string.
On piano, Am7♭5 has one black key (E♭) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual Am7♭5 shape is 2333, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Cm (C E♭ G) — so you can think of Am7♭5 as Cm with A added underneath.
Am7♭5 contains exactly the same notes as Cm6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and Am7♭5 becomes a different chord: raise E♭ to E for Am7, drop the G for Adim and lower G to G♭ for Adim7.
