Ab Half-diminished
Abm7b5
Notes
Ab · Cb · Ebb · Gb
Intervals
- RootAb (1P)
- Minor 3rdCb (3m)
- Diminished 5thEbb (5d)
- Minor 7thGb (7m)
Fretboard
On the fretboard, B represents Cb, and Eb represents Ebb.
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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.
Similar chords
Chords sharing two or more notes with this one, ranked by overlap.
Scales containing this chord
- A♭ Blues (deg 1)
- A♭ Minor Pentatonic (deg 1)
- A♭ Natural Minor (I)
- A Diminished (deg 8)
- B Major (VI)
- B Major Pentatonic (deg 5)
- C Diminished (deg 6)
- D♭ Natural Minor (V)
- E Major (III)
- E♭ Diminished (deg 4)
- E♭ Harmonic Minor (IV)
- E♭ Natural Minor (IV)
- F♯ Diminished (deg 2)
- F♯ Major (II)
- F♯ Melodic Minor (II)
- A♭ Dorian (I)
- A♭ Locrian (I)
- A♭ Phrygian (I)
- A Lydian (VII)
- B Lydian (VI)
- B Mixolydian (VI)
- B♭ Locrian (VII)
- B♭ Phrygian (VII)
- D♭ Dorian (V)
- D♭ Locrian (V)
- D♭ Mixolydian (V)
- D♭ Phrygian (V)
- E Lydian (III)
- E♭ Locrian (IV)
- E♭ Phrygian (IV)
- F Locrian (III)
- F♯ Dorian (II)
- F♯ Mixolydian (II)
Scales whose notes include every chord tone. Roman numeral marks the chord root’s position in the scale; dashed badges aren’t linked yet.