E♭ Half-diminished
E♭m7♭5
Notes
E♭ · G♭ · B♭♭ · D♭
Intervals
- RootE♭ (1P)
- Minor 3rdG♭ (3m)
- Diminished 5thB♭♭ (5d)
- Minor 7thD♭ (7m)
Fretboard
On the fretboard, A represents B♭♭.
Adjust labels, frets, and palette in the interactive view.
Voicings & shapes
Drop-2 voicings (12)
Drop-3 voicings (8)
About
The E♭ half-diminished (E♭–G♭–B♭♭–D♭), also written E♭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: E♭m7♭5 → A♭7 → D♭m. The B♭♭ is the defining color tone — without it, the chord collapses to a plain E♭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 E♭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
Eb 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
- E♭ Blues (deg 1)
- E♭ Locrian (I)
- A Lydian (IV)
- A♭ Phrygian (V)
- B Mixolydian (III)
- B♭ Diminished (deg 4)
- B♭ Harmonic Minor (IV)
- D♭ Diminished (deg 2)
- D♭ Harmonic Minor (II)
- D♭ Natural Minor (II)
- E Diminished (deg 8)
- E Major (VII)
- E Melodic Minor (VII)
- F♯ Dorian (VI)
- F♯ Melodic Minor (VI)
- G Diminished (deg 6)
Scales whose notes include every chord tone. The Roman numeral (or scale degree) marks the chord root’s position in the scale.