CHORD REFERENCE

Em7♭5

E – G – B♭ – D1 b3 b5 b7

The E Half-Diminished chord and everything around it — the notes and how they are built, the shape on piano and guitar, the sound, and the keys it belongs to.

Notes
E1Gb3B♭b5Db7

Em7♭5 is E, G, Bb, D — the 1, b3, b5 and b7 above the root E.

Piano
EGDB♭
Guitar

Ways to play it

A-shape barre — 7th fret
7fr××

Guitar — every position (frets 0–12)

357912eEGB♭DEBDEGB♭GGB♭DEGDDEGB♭DAB♭DEGEEGB♭DE

Root notes are red. The shapes above are movable — an E-shape has its root on the low E string, an A-shape on the A string. any group of these notes on the neck sounds the chord.

Ukulele (standard G–C–E–A)

357912AB♭DEGEEGB♭DECDEGB♭GGB♭DEG

Every position of the chord tones on the ukulele neck — any group that sounds only E, G, Bb, D plays the chord.

In which keys

Em7♭5 is a diatonic chord in these keys:

vii°F majorii°D minor
Other E chords

Triads

EMajorEmMinorE5Power Chord (5)EdimDiminishedEaugAugmentedEsus2Suspended 2ndEsus4Suspended 4th

Sixths & sevenths

E6Major 6thEm6Minor 6thE7Dominant 7thEmaj7Major 7thEm7Minor 7thEm(maj7)Minor–Major 7thEdim7Diminished 7thE7sus47sus4

Altered dominants

E7♭57♭5E7♯57♯5 (Augmented 7th)E7♭97♭9E7♯97♯9 (Hendrix Chord)

Extended & added

Eadd9Added 9thE6/96/9E9Dominant 9thEmaj9Major 9thEm9Minor 9thE11Dominant 11thE13Dominant 13th
Half-Diminished on another root
CC♯DD♯EFF♯GG♯AB♭A♯B
Keep exploring

Work out the chords of a whole key with the Scale & Chord Finder, name a chord from its notes with the Chord Identifier, or browse every chord tool. The theory behind how chords are built is in the free Cloud Atelier music guides.