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Comparison Between Half-diminished And Diminished 7

Difference Between Fully Diminished 7 And Half-Diminished - Guitar Lesson With Formula Chart And Neck Diagrams

Stef Ramin By On 2022-11-28 0

This blog article dedicated to guitarists answers the question that many beginner musicians ask themeselves :

What is the difference between half-diminished and fully diminished (Diminished 7) ?

Before tackling the following, be sure to have a strong knowledge of intervals names and how they are organized on the guitar neck.

Half-Diminished Chords

A half-diminished chord is built of four notes (just as all seventh chords) corresponding to the first, third, fifth and seventh step of a half-diminished scale as Locrian, Locrian Natural 6, Locrian #2 as well as Super Locrian, giving the following intervals : 1 (Tonic / Root), b3 (minor third), b5 (diminished fifth) and b7 (minor seventh).

This is actually a minor 7 chord with a flat five.

C Half-diminished C Eb Gb Bb
Formula 1 b3 b5 b7

 
Half-diminished chords are labeled m7b5 or ø. Examples with Cm7b5 or Cø

Diminished 7 Chords

Diminished 7 chords are composed of four notes, thus giving the interval formula :  

1 (Tonic / Root), b3 (minor third), b5 (diminished fifth) and bb7 (diminished seventh).

They can be found on the seventh degree of the harmonic minor scale, as well as on the seventh degree of the harmonic major scale.
 

C Dimished Seventh C Eb Gb Bbb
Formula 1 b3 b5 bb7

   

Diminished seventh chords are labeled dim7 or °, examples with Cdim7 or C°.

They are symmetric, built with stacked minor thirds, meaning that you can get four different chords with the same four notes.

Examples with Cdim7, Ebdim7, Gbdim7 and Adim7 (aka Bbb), they all contain the same four notes (C, Eb, Gb, Bbb).

Difference between half diminished and diminished 7
Half diminished versus diminished guitar chords

Conclusion

As you may have noticed, the only and unique difference is that the seventh is minor (b7) in a half-diminished chord, whereas it is diminished (bb7) in a diminished seventh chord.

Both are built based on a diminished triad (1, b3, b5). This rule is obviously available for arpeggios.

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guitar chords music theory Half-dimished chord m7b5 diminished 7 dim7

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