Guitar chord · Sevenths
B♭ half-diminished 7th chord on guitar
x12120 · Open position
All 6 shapes, tab & fingering ↓
6 ways to play B♭m7♭5 on guitar, with finger positions, tabs and step-by-step instructions.
Dark and unresolved; often the ii chord in a minor key.
B♭m7♭5 is the viiø7 chord in B major. In minor keys: iiø7 in G♯ minor.
- Notes
- B♭D♭F♭A♭
- Formula
- 1♭3♭5♭7
- Built from
- root · minor 3rd · diminished 5th · minor 7th
Guitar
Standard tuning (E A D G B E) · 6 voicings · E string on the left · Other tunings →
How to play it · Open position
- 6th string (low E): don’t play — mute it
- 5th string (A): 1st fret, index finger (1) B♭
- 4th string (D): 2nd fret, ring finger (3) F♭
- 3rd string (G): 1st fret, middle finger (2) A♭
- 2nd string (B): 2nd fret, pinky finger (4) D♭
- 1st string (high E): play open F♭
Tablature
e|--0---| B|--2---| G|--1---| D|--2---| A|--1---| E|--x---|
Top line is the high E string. x = don’t play, 0 = open string.
Every B♭m7♭5 note on the guitar neck
Bright dots are the selected voicing — the rest are other places you can find the same chord tones.
Tips for playing B♭m7♭5 on guitar
On guitar, B♭m7♭5 has an open-position shape, x12120, using four fingers alongside the open strings. Don’t strum the low E string.
Notice the F♭ in B♭m7♭5 (B♭ D♭ F♭ A♭): each note of the chord takes its own letter (B–D–F–A), so the diminished 5th has to be written F♭ rather than E — the same key on a piano, spelled to fit the chord.
