Sevenths
G♯ half-diminished 7th chord
Dark and unresolved; often the ii chord in a minor key.
G♯m7♭5 is the viiø7 chord in A major. In minor keys: iiø7 in F♯ minor.
- Notes
- G♯BDF♯
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th · minor 7th
How to play G♯m7♭5
About the G♯ half-diminished 7th chord
Playing it
On guitar, G♯m7♭5 has an open-position shape, 420102, using four fingers alongside the open strings.
On piano, G♯m7♭5 has two black keys (G♯ and F♯) and two white keys.
On ukulele the usual G♯m7♭5 shape is 1222, using four fingers.
Related chords
Take away the root and the other three notes form Bm (B D F♯) — so you can think of G♯m7♭5 as Bm with G♯ added underneath.
G♯m7♭5 contains exactly the same notes as Bm6. Which name fits depends on which note is in the bass and what key you’re in.
Move a single note and G♯m7♭5 becomes a different chord: raise D to D♯ for G♯m7, drop the F♯ for G♯dim and lower F♯ to F for G♯dim7.
