Sevenths
F♯ half-diminished 7th chord
Dark and unresolved; often the ii chord in a minor key.
F♯m7♭5 is the viiø7 chord in G major. In minor keys: iiø7 in E minor.
- Notes
- F♯ACE
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th · minor 7th
How to play F♯m7♭5
About the F♯ half-diminished 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, F♯m7♭5 has an open-position shape, 202210, using four fingers alongside the open strings.
On piano, F♯m7♭5 has one black key (F♯) and three white keys.
On ukulele the usual F♯m7♭5 shape is 2423, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Am (A C E) — so you can think of F♯m7♭5 as Am with F♯ added underneath.
F♯m7♭5 contains exactly the same notes as Am6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and F♯m7♭5 becomes a different chord: raise C to C♯ for F♯m7, drop the E for F♯dim and lower E to E♭ for F♯dim7.
