The Dbm7b5 chord (D flat minor 7 flat 5, or D flat half diminished) contains the notes Db, Fb, Abb and Cb, which is the 1 (root) b3, b5 and b7 of the Db Major scale. It can be viewed as an Dbm7 chord with a flat 5 or a Db 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. Try playing a D chord, then a Dbm7b5 chord and then return to D. This is an example of how Dbm7b5 can sound beautiful in context.
The Dbm7b5 chord is most commonly played with the root note on the 4th fret of the 5th string (2nd shape down, in the picture below).
10 Ways To Play The Dbm7b5 Chord
If you’ve come to this page just to view some chord diagrams for Dbm7b5 (D flat half diminished), here they are.
Some Quick Dbm7b5 Chord Theory
- The D flat minor 7 flat 5 chord contains the notes Db, Fb, Abb and Cb.
- The Dbm7b5 chord is produced by playing the 1st (root), flat 3rd, flat 5th and flat 7th of the Db Major scale.
- The Db 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).
- Dbm7b5 is a Db diminished chord, with an added flat 7th (Cb) included, or a Dbm7 chord with the 5th lowered by a semitone.
- The Db locrian mode can be used when soloing over the Dbm7b5 chord.
Further Reading
- A guide to half diminished chords
- Db minor 7 flat arpeggio
- Db diminished chord
- Chords page
- How guitar chords work
- Db locrian mode
