|
|
||
b5m7 Chords, Drop 2 Voicing: Guitar Chords Chart #8This guitar chords chart shows b5m7 chord fingerings. These chords are known either as "half-diminished chords" or "flat 5 minor 7 chords". They are the fourth kind of 7th -4 part- chord in diatonic order of appearance.  Previous: go to chord chart 7 (Dominant Chords) Next: go to chord chart 9 (Diminished Chords) You can also think of b5m7, half-diminished chords in terms of their interval structure, in which case b5m7 chords are the 4th type of chord: they have a flattened 3d, a flattened 5th, and a flattened 7th. They are the diatonic chord closest in structure to the 4-part diminished chord: flatten the 7th one half step further, and it's now a diminished chord. b5m7 chords composed of: Root (1), Minor Third (m3), Diminished Fifth (b5), and Minor Seventh (m7). All the b5m7 chords in these guitar chords chart are in shown in Drop2 voicings. This simply means that the 2nd voice of the half-diminished chord, up from the lowest, is "dropped" down to the highest voice of the chord. The reason Drop2 voicings are used in order to play b5m7 chords on guitar, instead of Block Voicings, is that most b5m7 chords are completely unusable in practice, since they are so uncomfortable to finger in closed position (all 4 notes of the chord within a single 8ve). This means that the closest thing to closed position that you can play comfortably, in most situations, is as follows: the second voice of the b5m7 chord, from the bottom up, is "dropped" to the highest voice. Bb5m7 Example:
B D F A, (or 1 3 5 7), which is a half-diminished chord in closed position, with the Root in the bass voice, becomes: All b5m7 Drop2 voicings above work just like that. The numbers to the left of the 1st column of the b5m7 chord boxes, tell you the order the note functions show up in. You will notice that the 1st number is as follows, for each of the 4 rows: Row1: 1 Row2: 3 Row3: 5 Row 4: 7 This means that each inversion of the b5m7 chord uses the exact same tones, albeit in different order (the specific order note functions appear in). b5m7 chord inversions are used for contrast and character, or to achieve smoother voice-leading. Each row in the b5m7 chord chart above shows you how to play a single Drop2 chord inversion of the half-diminished chord, using a specific set of 4 strings (no strings are skipped in Drop2 voicings). The columns show the four inversions of the b5m7 chord, in order of appearance, for each of the Drop2 voicings. In the b5m7 guitar chords chart above, the strings are shown in the following order:
Particularly with b5m7 chords, you are likely to find a myriad different "spellings" in different editions of sheet music and lead sheets. Here are some, just so you don't get confused if you do:
Previous: go to chord chart 7 (Dominant Chords) Next: go to chord chart 9 (Diminished Chords) 
Go back from Guitar Chords Chart 8: Half-diminished Chords to Guitar Chords Go from Guitar Chords Chart 8: Half-diminished Chords to Guitar Chord Chart Explanation |
 
|
|
|
Theory in Depth All the rest 
|
||
|
|
||
| ||
