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Half-Diminished Arpeggios (m7b5) | Guitar Lesson with Shapes And Charts

Half-diminished arpeggios, built from the minor 7â™­5 chord, are essential for adding depth, tension, and color to your playing.

They’re widely used in jazz, blues, and even modern rock, making them a valuable tool for any guitarist.

We’ll start by understanding the structure of half-diminished chords and how their arpeggios are formed.

Then, we’ll learn to play them in different positions across the fretboard.

Construction

A half-diminished arpeggio is a series of notes played in sequence that outline a half-diminished chord.

A half-diminished chord (also known as a minor 7 flat 5, written m7â™­5 or ø) is constructed with the following intervals:

  • Root
  • Minor third (3 semitones above the root)
  • Diminished fifth (6 semitones above the root, or a flat fifth)
  • Minor seventh (10 semitones above the root)

Example: B Half-Diminished (Bø or Bm7â™­5)

  • Root (1) : B
  • Minor third (b3) : D
  • Diminished fifth (b5) : F
  • Minor seventh (b7) : A

A B half-diminished arpeggio would consist of these notes played in sequence: B, D, F, A.

You can play them ascending, descending, or in any rhythmic or dynamic variation.

Bm7b5 arpeggio B D F A
Formula 1 b3 b5 b7

 

Musical Use

Half-diminished arpeggios are often used in jazz, classical, and other genres, especially to create tension or in chord progressions leading to resolutions, such as the iiø7 chord in a minor ii-V-I progression.

Guitar Shapes

Here are four m7b5 guitar arpeggio patterns. The notes of each shape are included within the space of one octave.

Remember that the root is the most important note, it gives its name to the arpeggio. 

Playing the corresponding chord is a nice way to bring them together. 

 

Half diminished guitar arpeggios one octave

Minor Seventh Flat Nine Arpeggios - Two Octave Shapes

The two diagrams show how to play m7b5 arpeggios within two octaves in order to cover the six strings.

The first shape has tonic on the sixth, fourth and first string.

The second pattern has tonic on the fifth, second string and first string.

Half diminished guitar arpeggios two octave

Related Scales

Half-diminished arpeggios are related to modes from various scale families as :

The Locrian mode, which is the seventh mode of the major scale.

The Locrian 13 mode or (aka locrian 6) the second mode of the harmonic minor scale.

The Locrian #2 mode, which is the sixth mode of the melodic minor scale.

The superlocrian mode, seventh mode of the melodic minor scale.

The Locrian #2 #6 mode (Dorian b5), second mode of the harmonic major scale.

half diminished arpeggio guitar scales

How to Use Half-Diminished Arpeggios?

m7b5 Arpeggio | Major II-V-I Sequence - Lick 1

The basic and most obvious way is to play these arpeggios over a m7b5 chord, it's so obvious that we're not going to linger on.

The m7b5 gets interesting when it is played over a minor seventh chord starting on the sixth, for example :

The Dm7 chord is made up of four notes :

  • Root (D)
  • Minor third (F)
  • Fifth (A)
  • Minor seventh (C)

The Bm7b5 arpeggio is made up of four notes too :

  • Root (B)
  • Minor third (D)
  • Diminished fifth (F)
  • Minor seventh (A)

By playing a Bm7b5 arpeggio over a Dm7 chord we get this :

  • The root of Bm7b5 (B) is the thirteenth of Dm7.
  • The b3 of Bm7b5 (D) is the root of Dm7.
  • The b5 of Bm7b5 (F) is the b3 of Dm7.
  • The b7 Bm7b5 (A) is the fifth of Dm7.

Example # 1

Over a II-V-I sequence:

  • Measure 1 : We can see a Bm7b5 arpeggio over the Dm7 chord.
  • Measure 2 : b7 and root of G7.
  • Measure 3 : C Ionian mode.

Major II-V-I Sequence - Lick # 2

The second way is to play a m7b5 arpeggio over dominant 7th chords starting on the major third, example over a G7 chord. The G7 chord is made up of four notes :

  • Root (G)
  • Major third (B)
  • Fifth (D)
  • Minor seventh (F)

Bm7b5 arpeggio :

  • Root (B)
  • Minor third (D)
  • Diminished fifth (F)
  • Minor seventh (A)

When playing a Bm7b5 arpeggio over a G7 chord we obtain this following :

  • The root of Bm7b5 (B) is the third of G7.
  • The b3 of Bm7b5 (D) is the fifth of G7.
  • The b5 of Bm7b5 (F) is the b7 of G7.
  • The b7 Bm7b5 (A) is the ninth of G7.

Example #2 

over a II-V-I sequence :

  • Measure 1 : D minor seventh arpeggio, ascending and descending.
  • Measure 2 : Bm7b5 arpeggio over the G7 chord.
  • Measure 3 : Ionian mode.

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Last edited: 2024-12-26

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