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Tomus

Chord reference

Half-diminished seventh

1 – ♭3 – ♭5 – ♭7 · example: Cm7♭5 = C – E♭ – G♭ – B♭

A diminished triad with a minor seventh. Written m7♭5 or with the ø symbol.

Written as a formula it is 1 – ♭3 – ♭5 – ♭7: the degrees of the major scale it keeps, with any that are altered marked. On C that gives Cm7♭5 = C, E♭, G♭, B♭.

How it is built

  1. B♭
    minor
  2. G♭
    third
  3. E♭
    minor
  4. Croot
Cm7♭5 stacked from the root upwards, with the interval between each pair of notes.
𝄞CE♭G♭B♭
Cm7♭5 written out as an arpeggio, lowest note first.
CCDEFGABCDEE♭G♭B♭
Cm7♭5 on the keyboard, root highlighted.

The intervals above the root

Chord toneInterval above the rootSemitonesNote in Cm7♭5
1Perfect unison0C
♭3Minor third3E♭
♭5Diminished fifth6G♭
♭7Minor seventh10B♭

Inversions

The same notes can be stacked in any vertical order. The chord keeps its name; what changes is which note is in the bass. See chord inversions for why that matters.

PositionNotesWritten as
Root positionC – E♭ – G♭ – B♭Cm7♭5
First inversionE♭ – G♭ – B♭ – CCm7♭5/E♭
Second inversionG♭ – B♭ – C – E♭Cm7♭5/G♭
Third inversionB♭ – C – E♭ – G♭Cm7♭5/B♭

This chord on every root

RootSymbolNotes
CCm7♭5C – E♭ – G♭ – B♭
D♭D♭m7♭5D♭ – F♭ – A𝄫 – C♭
DDm7♭5D – F – A♭ – C
E♭E♭m7♭5E♭ – G♭ – B𝄫 – D♭
EEm7♭5E – G – B♭ – D
FFm7♭5F – A♭ – C♭ – E♭
F♯F♯m7♭5F♯ – A – C – E
GGm7♭5G – B♭ – D♭ – F
A♭A♭m7♭5A♭ – C♭ – E𝄫 – G♭
AAm7♭5A – C – E♭ – G
B♭B♭m7♭5B♭ – D♭ – F♭ – A♭
BBm7♭5B – D – F – A
Twelve roots, one shape. The interval pattern above the root never changes.

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