Minor 7, flat 5 / half-diminished........................................................
There are two different names for the same chord. The chord is “despairing,
sorrowful, difficult, deep.”To build a minor seventh, flat fifth chord using half and whole steps,
remember: root + 3 half steps + 3 half steps + 4 steps (Figure 10-13).There are many, many more chord configurations than just these, but the
ones we list in this section are a good start. As we said before, you have to
decide for yourself how each of these chords makes you feel.&4
4
w
w
w
w
b
b
b
Cm7/b 5
Figure 10-13:
C Minor 7,
flat 5. Minor
7, flat 5
chords are
made from
the 1, flat 3,
flat 5, and
flat 7 tones
of the major
scale.
&4
4
w
w
w
Caug
Figure 10-12:
C aug-
mented.
Augmented
chords are
made from
the 1, 3, and
sharp 5
tones of the
major scale.
Chapter 10: Composing with Chords 109