Sevenths
D♭ half-diminished 7th chord
Dark and unresolved; often the ii chord in a minor key.
D♭m7♭5 is the viiø7 chord in D major. In minor keys: iiø7 in B minor.
- Notes
- D♭F♭A𝄫C♭
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th · minor 7th
How to play D♭m7♭5
About the D♭ half-diminished 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, D♭m7♭5 is one of the friendlier shapes: x42000 needs just two fingers and lets the open strings ring. Don’t strum the low E string.
On piano, D♭m7♭5 has one black key (D♭) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual D♭m7♭5 shape is 0102, using two fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form F♭m (F♭ A𝄫 C♭) — so you can think of D♭m7♭5 as F♭m with D♭ added underneath.
D♭m7♭5 contains exactly the same notes as Em6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and D♭m7♭5 becomes a different chord: raise A𝄫 to A♭ for D♭m7, drop the C♭ for D♭dim and lower C♭ to C𝄫 for D♭dim7.
Where you’ll hear it
Notice the F♭ in D♭m7♭5 (D♭ F♭ A𝄫 C♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (D–F–A–C), so the minor 3rd has to be written F♭ rather than E — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
