Chords
D# Half-diminished
D# · F# · A · C#
The half-diminished seventh — a diminished triad with a minor seventh. The ii of a minor key.
Also written D#ø · D#ø7 · D#-7b5 · D#h7 · D#h
D# Half-diminished
D# · F# · A · C#
Voicings on the piano
| Voicing | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|
| Closed, root position | D#3 · F#3 · A3 · C#4 | |
| Open (drop 2) | A2 · D#3 · F#3 · C#4 | |
| Shell | D#3 · F#3 · C#4 | |
| Rootless | F#3 · A3 · C#4 · D#4 |
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Anatomy
D# Half-diminished (D#m7b5) contains the notes D# · F# · A · C#, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.
Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords
Inversions
An inversion of D# Half-diminished puts a chord tone other than D# in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.
Where it lives
The keys and the scales D# Half-diminished belongs to.
In which keys
D# Half-diminished is diatonic to 3 keys; the numeral is its degree and the label its harmonic function.
Scales that contain it
D# Half-diminished fits inside these scales, each built on D#.
- D# Minor BluesD# · F# · G# · A · A# · C#
- D# LocrianD# · E · F# · G# · A · B · C#
- D# Locrian PentatonicD# · F# · G# · A · C#
- D# Super Locrian PentatonicD# · F# · G · A · C#
- D# Locrian #2D# · E# · F# · G# · A · B · C#
- D# Locrian 6D# · E · F# · G# · A · B# · C#
- D# Bebop LocrianD# · E · F# · G# · A · A# · B · C#
Understanding the D# Half-diminished chord
Names and symbols
D#m7b5 is the chord symbol for D# Half-diminished; it is also written D#ø, D#ø7, D#-7b5, D#h7, D#h.
The half-diminished seventh is written m7♭5 on charts and ø7 (or just ø) in jazz notation; both name the same four notes. It is not the diminished seventh, °7, whose seventh is a semitone lower.
How it is built
On D# it is D# · F# · A · C#, stacking 1P · 3m · 5d · 7m. It is written m7♭5 or with the ø symbol, and both mean the same thing: a diminished triad softened by a minor rather than a diminished seventh.
How it is used
It is the ii of a minor ii–V–i, which makes it one of the most frequently played chords in jazz despite sounding exotic in isolation. It is also the chord built on the seventh degree of a major scale.
Unlike the fully diminished seventh it is not symmetrical, so it has a clear home and a clear direction: down a fifth, to the dominant.
Learn this properly
Chapter 10: Chords: Triads and SeventhsCommon questions
- What notes are in D#m7b5?
- D#m7b5 contains D# · F# · A · C#. Name any set of notes with the chord identifier.
- What is the difference between half-diminished and fully diminished?
- The seventh. Half-diminished uses a minor seventh; fully diminished lowers it again to a diminished seventh, which makes the chord symmetrical.
- Where is a half-diminished chord used?
- As the ii of a minor ii–V–i, and as the chord built on the seventh degree of a major scale.
- What notes are in the D# Half-diminished chord?
- The D# Half-diminished chord contains the notes D# · F# · A · C#: the root D# with the intervals 1P, 3m, 5d, 7m stacked above it. Play them together for the chord or one after another for an arpeggio. The lowest note is normally D#, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
- What intervals make up the D# Half-diminished chord?
- Measured from D#, the D# Half-diminished chord stacks the intervals 1P, 3m, 5d, 7m. The quality of the third and of the seventh, if there is one, is what gives the chord its character; the rest of the notes colour it. Every interval in the formula links to its own page, with its sound.