D7b5 guitar chord

3 of 7
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About D7b5

D7b5 keeps the dominant 3rd and flat 7th of , but lowers its 5th to : D, F#, Ab and C.

The flat 5th is the note that names this chord, so let it sound. A sharp 11th is written differently because its natural 5th remains.

Also written D7(b5), D7-5 or D7♭5.

D7b5 guitar chord diagram: D, F#, Ab, C, played x5657x
D7b5 guitar chord voicing: x-5-6-5-7-x.

How to use D7b5

1Leading into the V from above

Fr+6 – V – i

Built on the flat sixth of a minor key, D7b5 is the classical French sixth under a lead-sheet name, one of the strongest ways into C#: its bass falls a half step and its seventh rises a half step, both onto the V’s root. The 7♭5 a tritone away has the same four notes.

Listen for: The seventh rises a half step as the bass falls a half step; they meet on the root of the V, an octave apart.

Heard in“Bernie’s Tune”

What to play over D7b5

Useful scales

  • +EA#

    Contains D7b5 and adds ninth and sharp fifth.

  • +EAB

    Adds ninth, fifth and thirteenth, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.

  • +EbE#Bb

    Contains D7b5 and adds flat ninth, sharp ninth and sharp fifth.

  • +EbFAB

    Contains D7b5 and adds flat ninth, sharp ninth, fifth and thirteenth.

Every scale

Chords near D7b5

Change one note

  • open strings
    open strings
    C → C#

    Raise the flat seventh to the major seventh.

    See Dmaj7b5 chord →
  • open strings
    open strings
    F# → F

    Lower the major third to the minor third.

    See Dm7b5 chord →
  • open strings
    open strings
    Ab → A

    Raise the flat fifth to the fifth.

    See D7 chord →
  • open strings
    open strings
    Ab → A#

    Replace the flat fifth with the sharp fifth.

    See Daug7 chord →

Add a note

Altered dominant chords on every root

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode