A♭ Half-diminished
A♭m7♭5
Notes
A♭ · C♭ · E♭♭ · G♭
Intervals
- RootA♭ (1P)
- Minor 3rdC♭ (3m)
- Diminished 5thE♭♭ (5d)
- Minor 7thG♭ (7m)
Fretboard
On the fretboard, B represents C♭, and D represents E♭♭.
Adjust labels, frets, and palette in the interactive view.
Voicings & shapes
Drop-2 voicings (12)
Drop-3 voicings (8)
About
The A♭ half-diminished (A♭–C♭–E♭♭–G♭), also written A♭ø7, is the naturally occurring chord on the seventh degree of a major scale and on the second degree of a natural minor scale. Its primary role in jazz is as the ii chord in a minor ii–V–i: A♭m7♭5 → D♭7 → G♭m. The E♭♭ is the defining color tone — without it, the chord collapses to a plain A♭m7. The 3rd and ♭7 together establish the minor seventh quality. On guitar, the fifth is essential and should not be omitted, since the ♭5 is precisely what distinguishes this chord. Compared to A♭dim7, m7♭5 is more grounded due to the natural (rather than doubly-flatted) seventh, giving it a somber but less frantic character.
Chord diagrams
Ab Half-diminished voicing charts — tap a sheet to open it full size to save or print.
Similar chords
Chords sharing two or more notes with this one, ranked by overlap.
Scales containing this chord
- A♭ Blues (deg 1)
- A♭ Locrian (I)
- A Diminished (deg 8)
- A Major (VII)
- A Melodic Minor (VII)
- B Dorian (VI)
- B Melodic Minor (VI)
- C Diminished (deg 6)
- D Lydian (IV)
- D♭ Phrygian (V)
- E Mixolydian (III)
- E♭ Diminished (deg 4)
- E♭ Harmonic Minor (IV)
- F♯ Diminished (deg 2)
- F♯ Harmonic Minor (II)
- F♯ Natural Minor (II)
Scales whose notes include every chord tone. The Roman numeral (or scale degree) marks the chord root’s position in the scale.