Sevenths
D half-diminished 7th chord
Dark and unresolved; often the ii chord in a minor key.
Dm7♭5 is the viiø7 chord in E♭ major. In minor keys: iiø7 in C minor.
- Notes
- DFA♭C
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th · minor 7th
How to play Dm7♭5
About the D half-diminished 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, Dm7♭5 is one of the friendlier shapes: xx0111 needs just one finger and lets the open strings ring. Don’t strum the low E and A strings.
On piano, Dm7♭5 has one black key (A♭) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual Dm7♭5 shape is 1213, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Fm (F A♭ C) — so you can think of Dm7♭5 as Fm with D added underneath.
Dm7♭5 contains exactly the same notes as Fm6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and Dm7♭5 becomes a different chord: raise A♭ to A for Dm7, drop the C for Ddim and lower C to C♭ for Ddim7.
