Dm7b5 guitar chord
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About Dm7b5 — 1st inversion
Dm7b5 is D, F, Ab and C — Dm7 with the fifth lowered a semitone.
It sounds hollow, and unmistakably going somewhere. Almost always the first chord of a minor ii–V–i, so it walks straight into an altered dominant.
Dm7b5 notes and formula
| D | F | Ab | C |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ♭3 | ♭5 | ♭7 |
Pre-dominant — the ii of a minor key.
Also written Dø, Dø7, Dm7-5, Dm7(b5) or D half diminished. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.
How to play Dm7b5
Dm7b5 in 1st inversion puts F in the bass instead of D, the 3rd of the chord. The notes are the same; what changes is what the bass line does, which is most of why you would reach for it — it lets the lowest voice move by step where the root would have jumped.
One of Dm7b5’s 9 common shapes does this: x-8-0-10-9-8.
Start with x5656x — no barre and low, at the 5th fret. 1 of the 9 shapes here sits in open position. 4 of the 9 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.
| Frets | Where | Bass | Top | Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| xx0111 | open position | D, root position | F | barred |
| x53534 | 3rd fret | D, root position | Ab | all fretted |
| x5656x | 5th fret | D, root position | F | all fretted |
| xx6768 | 6th fret | Ab, 2nd inversion | C | all fretted |
| x-8-0-10-9-8 | 8th fret | F, 1st inversion | C | 1 open string |
| 10-x-x-10-9-8 | 8th fret | D, root position | C | all fretted |
| 10-x-10-10-9-x | 9th fret | D, root position | Ab | barred |
| 10-11-12-10-13-10 | 10th fret | D, root position | D | barred |
| x-x-12-13-13-13 | 12th fret | D, root position | F | barred |
The same notes rebuilt from scratch give 6 shell, 15 drop 2 and 10 drop 3 voicings, each on its own page.
Tensions. A shell of Dm7b5, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (G) and the b13 (Bb).
How to use Dm7b5
Dm7b5 is the ii of C minor, which is where it is nearly always found: half-diminished, then an altered dominant, then the minor tonic.
In which keys. Every note of Dm7b5 belongs to C minor (the ii°, the supertonic) and Eb major (the vii°, the leading tone).
What to play over Dm7b5
Every note of Dm7b5 is in D blues, D locrian, D altered and D half-whole diminished.
Chords near Dm7b5
Change one note of Dm7b5 and you have Ddim (drop the flat seventh), Ddim7 (the flat seventh becomes a sixth), Dm7 (the flat fifth becomes a fifth), DmMaj7b5 (the flat seventh becomes a major seventh) or D7b5 (the minor third becomes a major third).
Dm7b5 is a diminished chord — root, minor third, flat fifth. Diminished and half-diminished chords on every root.
On Dm7b5’s sound and use this page follows Mark Levine, The Jazz Theory Book (Sher Music, 1995). The shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.