The Minor 7 Flat 5 Piano Chord

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In this chord feature, we will be looking at the minor 7 flat 5 chord. If you want a minor 7th chord with a bluesy feel, this is the chord for you!

To begin, all we need is a C minor chord. We can build this chord by using a C-Eb-G. Now, we need to make this chord a 7th by adding in the 7th note of the C Minor scale which is Bb. Now we have C-Eb-G and Bb. Sounds good already doesn’t it?

Let’s see what happens if we flatten the 5th by a half step. This means we will take the 5th note of the C minor scale which is G and move it down a half step to Gb giving us C-Eb-Gb-Bb. This is the minor 7 flat five. Tada!

Fun fact: This chord can also be called a half diminished chord because you will notice that our first intervals from C-Eb are a minor third and Eb-Gb is a minor third. This mini stack of minor 3rds is what gives it that diminished feeling.  

What we end up with is a chord that has a really nice bluesy vibe. This is because of the flattened 5 which is a part of the blues scale or pentatonic scale. Who knew that one little change could have such a great impact?

Enjoy!

Jordan

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Jordan Leibel is passionate about songwriting, improvisation, and helping you become a creative musician! He’s worked as a composer for film, commercial, and theatre projects as well as a session musician and producer for recording work.