Guitar Chords Chart #8: b5m7 Chords, Drop 2 Voicing
(The half-diminished chord)

This basic guitar chords chart shows you how to play b5m7 chords. They are one of the 4 basic four-part chord types.

Chord Symbol Examples:

They are composed of: Root (1), Minor Third (m3), Diminished Fifth (5-), and Minor Seventh (m7).

As these half-diminished chords are shown in drop 2 voicing, there are no unfingered strings between notes. Unfortunately, most 7th -or four part chords- are very uncomfortable to play in closed position on the guitar fretboard. This means that the closest thing to closed position is as follows: The second note of the 7th chord, from the bottom up, is shifted to the highest voice.

The numbers to the left of the first column tell you the order the notes of each b5m7 chord inversion appear in. You will notice that the first (lowermost) number of the rows are the following:

This means that each chord inversion uses the exact same notes, except that in it, they are arranged in a different order. Chord inversions are used for variety and character, as well as to achieve smooth voice leading.

The strings are shown in this order (headstock to the left):

Each column shows you how to play each or chord inversion (also called chord position) in a specific group of 4 adjacent strings.

In each row you will find one same chord position (Drop 2 Voicing) of the b5m7 chord as it is fingered on each set of 4 contiguous strings.

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