What notes are in the E 7b5 chord?

The E 7b5 chord contains the notes E · G# · Bb · D: the root E 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 E, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.

What intervals make up the E 7b5 chord?

Measured from E, the E 7b5 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.

How do I play the E 7b5 chord?

On guitar the most common E 7b5 shape is 010130, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play E3 · G#3 · Bb3 · D4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.

E 7b5 Chord (E7b5): Notes, Piano & Guitar

Play it on your instrument

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Voicings on the piano

Voicing	Notes	Play it on your instrument
Closed, root position	E3 · G#3 · Bb3 · D4
Open (drop 2)	Bb2 · E3 · G#3 · D4
Shell	E3 · G#3 · D4
Rootless	G#3 · Bb3 · D4

Tap a key or a fret to hear it.

Anatomy

E 7b5 (E7b5) contains the notes E · G# · Bb · D, each with a role measured as an interval from the root.

Read on: how triads are built · seventh chords

Inversions

An inversion of E 7b5 puts a chord tone other than E in the bass; the name after the slash is that bass note.

Where it lives

The keys and the scales E 7b5 belongs to.

In which keys

E 7b5 is not diatonic to any major or minor key: at least one of its notes lies outside every one of them.

Scales that contain it

E 7b5 fits inside these scales, each built on E.

E Lydian DominantE · F# · G# · A# · B · C# · D
E Half-Whole DiminishedE · F · G · G# · A# · B · C# · D
E Neapolitan Major PentatonicE · G# · A · Bb · D
E Whole Tone PentatonicE · G# · Bb · C · D
E Lydian Dominant PentatonicE · G# · A# · B · D
E Super Locrian PentatonicE · G · Ab · Bb · D
E Prometheus NeapolitanE · F · G# · A# · C# · D
E PrometheusE · F# · G# · A# · C# · D

Related chords

Chords that share most of their notes with E 7b5: simpler and richer stacks of the same notes, and the substitutes a chart would accept.

Simpler

E7no5E · G# · D
Emajb5E · G# · Bb

Richer

E7#11E · G# · B · D · A#
E9b5E · G# · Bb · D · F#
E7#11b13E · G# · B · D · A# · C
E13b5E · G# · Bb · C# · D · F#
E9#5#11E · G# · B# · D · F# · A#
E9#11E · G# · B · D · F# · A#

Common substitutions

Bb7b5Bb · D · Fb · Ab
Bb7b5 shares the third and seventh of E7b5 a tritone away, so it can replace it as a dominant.
Bm7B · D · F# · A
Bm7 is the ii chord that leads into E7b5 in a ii–V.

7b5 on every root

C7b5 C#7b5 D7b5 F7b5 F#7b5 G7b5 G#7b5 A7b5 Bb7b5 B7b5

Open it in a tool

Understanding the E 7b5 chord

Names and symbols

E7b5 is the chord symbol for E 7b5.

Common questions

What notes are in the E 7b5 chord?: The E 7b5 chord contains the notes E · G# · Bb · D: the root E 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 E, but any chord tone can take the bass in an inversion.
What intervals make up the E 7b5 chord?: Measured from E, the E 7b5 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.
How do I play the E 7b5 chord?: On guitar the most common E 7b5 shape is 010130, read from the lowest string to the highest; the instrument panel above shows several more with their fingerings. On piano play E3 · G#3 · Bb3 · D4 with the right hand, or move the root down into the left hand and keep the rest above it. Every shape on this page plays when you press it.