F♯ Half-diminished
F♯m7♭5
Notes
F♯ · A · C · E
Intervals
- RootF♯ (1P)
- Minor 3rdA (3m)
- Diminished 5thC (5d)
- Minor 7thE (7m)
Fretboard
Adjust labels, frets, and palette in the interactive view.
Voicings & shapes
Drop-2 voicings (12)
Drop-3 voicings (8)
About
The F♯ half-diminished (F♯–A–C–E), also written F♯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: F♯m7♭5 → B7 → Em. The C is the defining color tone — without it, the chord collapses to a plain F♯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 F♯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
F# 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
- F♯ Blues (deg 1)
- F♯ Locrian (I)
- A Dorian (VI)
- A Melodic Minor (VI)
- B Phrygian (V)
- B♭ Diminished (deg 6)
- C Lydian (IV)
- D Mixolydian (III)
- D♭ Diminished (deg 4)
- D♭ Harmonic Minor (IV)
- E Diminished (deg 2)
- E Harmonic Minor (II)
- E Natural Minor (II)
- G Diminished (deg 8)
- G Major (VII)
- G Melodic Minor (VII)
Scales whose notes include every chord tone. The Roman numeral (or scale degree) marks the chord root’s position in the scale.