Half-diminished

seventh chord

In music theory, the half-diminished

seventh chord (also known as a half-
diminished chord or a minor seventh flat
five chord) is a seventh chord composed
of a root note, together with a minor third,
a diminished fifth, and a minor seventh
(1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭7). For example, the half-
diminished seventh chord built on C,
commonly written as Cø7, has pitches C–
E♭–G♭–B♭:

half-diminished seventh chord

Component intervals from root

minor seventh

diminished fifth (tritone)

minor third

root

Tuning

5:6:7:9[1] or 25:30:36:45[2]

Forte no. / Complement

4-27 / 8-27
 0:02 / 0:02

It can be represented by the integer

notation {0, 3, 6, 10}.

In diatonic harmony, the half-diminished

seventh chord occurs naturally on the
seventh scale degree of any major scale
(for example, Bø7 in C major) and is thus a
leading-tone seventh chord in the major
mode.[3] Similarly, the chord also occurs
on the second degree of any natural minor
scale (e.g., Dø7 in C minor). It has been
described as a "considerable instability".[4]

Chord symbols and

terminology
Half-diminished seventh chords are often
symbolized as a circle with a diagonal line
through it, as in Cø7 or simply Cø. It also
can be represented as m7♭5, −7♭5, m7(♭5) etc.

The terms and symbols for this chord

break expectations that derive from the
usual system of chord nomenclature.
Normally a symbol like "Bdim" indicates a
diminished triad and "B7" indicates a major
triad plus a minor seventh. Thus, one
would expect the term "Bdim7" to indicate
a diminished triad plus a minor seventh.
Instead, it means a diminished triad plus a
diminished seventh. To make this
distinction clear, the term "half-diminished"
and the ø symbol (ø) were invented. Since
the term dim7 (as in Bdim7) meant
something else, the accurate but unwieldy
term "minor seventh flat five" (as in Bø7)
came to be used.[5]

Despite the appearance of the

word "diminished" in the name
of this type of seventh chord, its
sound differs considerably from
that of a diminished seventh
chord. In fact, the only sonic
connection between the two
chords is the single diminished
triad found in the half-
diminished seventh chord. As
composer-theorist Milton
Babbitt has astutely pointed out,
the "half-diminished" seventh
chord should be called the "one-
third" diminished seventh chord.
... Whatever its deficiencies
might be in the label
department, however, the half-
diminished seventh chord is in
many respects the star of the
seventh chord harmonic cast.
Many songs in the classic
 American popular song
repertoire reserve it for their
most intensely expressive
moments.[6]

Jazz musicians typically consider the half-

diminished chord as built from one of
three scales: the seventh mode (the
Locrian mode) of the major scale, the sixth
mode of the melodic minor scale (the
latter scale is nearly identical to the
Locrian mode, except that it has a ♮9 rather
than a ♭9, giving it a somewhat more
consonant quality): or the "half-whole"
diminished scale. See chord-scale system.
The "Tristan chord" is sometimes
described as a half-diminished seventh
chord; however, the term "Tristan chord" is
typically reserved for a very specific
harmonic function, especially determined
by the chord voicing and sometimes even
the way the chord is spelled.

Function
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Most common functions

The half-diminished seventh chord has

three functions in contemporary harmony:
predominant, diminished, and dominant
function.

The vast majority of its occurrences are on

the II chord in the minor mode, where it
takes a predominant function, leading
naturally to the dominant V chord. Not
including the root motion, there is only a
one note difference between a half-
diminished seventh chord and a V7 chord
with a flat ninth. Since it is built on the
diatonic II chord of the minor scale, most
of the time the II-V pattern resolves to a
minor tonic (such as in the progression
Dø7 – G7♭9 – Cm), but there are also
instances where there is a major tonic
resolution.

The first three measures of the Ciaccona movement of

J.S. Bach's Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor

For example, over the first three bars of

the Ciaccona movement of J.S. Bach's
Violin Partita No. 2 in D minor, the tonic in
the first measure progresses to the iiø7
chord (in third inversion) for the first beat
of the second measure, then to the
dominant (a V7 in second inversion), and
then back to the tonic in the third measure.

Diminished chord function is rarer but still

exists. Half-diminished chords can
function in the same way as fully
diminished chords, such as in the chord
progression CM7 – C♯dim7 – Dm7, or Em7
– E♭dim7 – Dm7, where the diminished
chord serves as a chromatic passing
chord preceding a chord with a diatonic
root. A typical example of this is when
♯IVø7 progresses to IVm7, such as in the
Cole Porter song "Night and Day", where
there is the progression F♯ø7 – Fm7 – Em7
– E♭dim7 – Dm7 – G7 – CM7. If analyzed in
its predominant function, it wouldn't
sufficiently explain how it functions
preceding the Fm7 chord.

In dominant function, the VII half

diminished chord, like its fully diminished
counterpart, can take the place of the
dominant V chord at a point of cadential
motion. This chord, sometimes called a
leading-tone diminished seventh chord, is
represented by the Roman numeral
notation viiø7, the root of which is the
leading-tone to the tonic.[3]. In the key of C,
this is chord is Bø7, as shown below.
This generally occurs in a major key, since
the flattening of the sixth degree in the
natural minor scale renders a dominant
diminished seventh chord fully diminished
if played within the scale. Indeed, the VII
half diminished chord in a major key is
identical to a dominant ninth chord (a
dominant seventh with a major ninth) with
its root omitted.
A secondary leading-tone half-diminished chord in
Brahms's Intermezzo, op. 119, no. 3 (1893)[7]

The dominant function of the half-

diminished seventh chord may also occur
in a secondary dominant context, i.e., as
part of a progression where the chord
performs the dominant function with
respect to the overall key's dominant
chord. In this scenario, the half-diminished
seventh chord is built on the tritone of the
overall key and is equivalent to a
secondary dominant seventh chord with
added ninth and omitted root. If written
with respect to the overall key, this chord is
styled "♯ivø7," but in terms of its function in
the progression, the styling "viiø7/V" is
more descriptive.

Other functions

A variant of the supertonic seventh chord

(iiø7) is the supertonic half-diminished
seventh with the raised supertonic (♯iiø7),
which is enharmonically equivalence to the
lowered third (in C: D♯ = E♭).

D♯–F♯–A–C♯ = F♯–A–C♯–E♭
 D♯ø7 = F♯madd dim7

The sharpened subdominant diminished

triad with minor seventh chord is
represented with the Roman numeral
notation ♯ivø7; the root of this chord is the
raised subdominant (sharpened fourth).
That root also serves as the leading tone
to the dominant when used in the viiø7/V
function described above; such a function
is the diminished, secondary-dominant
equivalent of a backdoor progression. For
example, in the key of C major, the chord
playing this role is F♯ø7.

The half-diminished seventh chord is the

inversion of the German augmented sixth
chord.[8] The minor seventh interval
(between root and seventh degree, i.e.: { C
B♭ } in { C E♭ G♭ B♭ } ) is enharmonically
equivalent to an augmented sixth { C E♭ G♭
A♯ }.[9] Rearranging and transposing, this
gives { A♭ C♭ D F♯ }, a virtual minor version
of the French augmented sixth chord.[10]
Like the typical augmented sixth chord,
this enharmonic interpretation gives on a
resolution irregular for the half-diminished
seventh but regular for the augmented
sixth chord, where the two voices at the
enharmonic major second converge to
unison or diverge to octave.[11]

Half-diminished seventh
chord table
Chord Root Minor third Diminished fifth Flat seventh

Cm7♭5 C E♭ G♭ B♭

C♯m7♭5 C♯ E G B

D♭m7♭5 D♭ F♭ (E) A (G) C♭ (B)

Dm7♭5 D F A♭ C

D♯m7♭5 D♯ F♯ A C♯

E♭m7♭5 E♭ G♭ B (A) D♭

Em7♭5 E G B♭ D

Fm7♭5 F A♭ C♭ (B) E♭

F♯m7♭5 F♯ A C E

G♭m7♭5 G♭ B (A) D (C) F♭ (E)

Gm7♭5 G B♭ D♭ F

G♯m7♭5 G♯ B D F♯

A♭m7♭5 A♭ C♭ (B) E (D) G♭

Am7♭5 A C E♭ G

A♯m7♭5 A♯ C♯ E G♯

B♭m7♭5 B♭ D♭ F♭ (E) A♭

Bm7♭5 B D F A

See also
Bar-line shift
Diminished seventh chord
 Subtonic

References
1. Fétis, François-Joseph and Arlin, Mary I.
(1994). Esquisse de l'histoire de l'harmonie,
p.139n9. ISBN 9780945193517.
2. Shirlaw, Matthew (2012). The Theory of
Harmony, p.86. ISBN 9781451015348.
3. Benward & Saker (2003). Music: In
Theory and Practice, Vol. I, p.217.
ISBN 978-0-07-294262-0.
4. Henry, Earl and Rogers, Michael (2004).
Tonality and Design in Music Theory, Vol. I,
p.295. ISBN 0130811289.
5. Mathieu, W.A. Harmonic Experience:
Tonal Harmony from Its Natural Origins to
Its Modern Expression (1997), pp. 371-372,
Inner Traditions International, ISBN 0-
89281-560-4
6. Forte, Allen; Lalli, Richard; and Chapman,
Gary (2001). Listening to Classic American
Popular Songs, p.11. ISBN 0300083386.
7. Benward & Saker (2003), p.276.
8. Hanson, Howard. (1960) Harmonic
Materials of Modern Music, p.356ff. New
York: Appleton-Century-Crofts. LOC 58-
8138.
9. Ouseley, Frederick. A. Gore (1868). A
Treatise on Harmony, pg. 137, Oxford,
Clarendon Press.
10. Chadwick, G. W. (1922). Harmony: A
Course of Study, pg. 138ff, Boston, B. F.
Wood.
11. Christ, William (1966). Materials and
Structure of Music, v.2, p. 154. Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall. LOC 66-14354.

External links
Improvising Over Half Diminished
Chords
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Half-
diminished_seventh_chord&oldid=883306086"

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