The Cm7b5 chord (C minor 7 flat 5, or C half diminished) contains the notes C, Eb, Gb and Bb, which is the 1 (root) b3, b5 and b7 of the C Major scale. It can be viewed as a Cm7 chord with a flat 5 or a C diminished chord with an added b7.
The half diminished chord can sound like a very dissonant chord, when played in isolation. However, when played in the context of other chords, it can sound beautiful. Cm7b5 is the 7th chord in the key of Db Major. Try playing a Db chord, then a Cm7b5 chord and then return to Db. This is an example of how Cm7b5 can sound beautiful in context.
The Cm7b5 chord is most commonly played with the root note on the 3rd fret of the 5th string (2nd shape in the picture below).
10 Ways To Play The Cm7b5 Chord
If you’ve come to this page just to view some chord diagrams for Cm7b5 (C half diminished), here they are.
Some Quick Cm7b5 Chord Theory
- The C minor 7 flat 5 chord contains the notes C, Eb, Gb and Bb.
- The Cm7b5 chord is produced by playing the 1st (root), flat 3rd, flat 5th and flat 7th of the C Major scale.
- The C minor 7 flat 5 chord (just like all half diminished chords) contains the following intervals (from the root note): minor 3rd, minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Major 2nd (back to the root note).
- Cm7b5 is a C diminished chord, with an added flat 7th (Bb) included, or a Cm7 chord with the 5th lowered by a semitone.
- Cm7b5 is the 7th chord in the key of Db.
- The C locrian mode can be used when soloing over the Cm7b5 chord.
Further Reading
- A guide to half diminished chords
- C minor 7 flat arpeggio
- C diminished chord
- Chords page
- How guitar chords work
- C locrian mode
