when would you use a m7b5 chord.?

[scooter]

Could you use it as a replacement for an ordinary minor7 chord.?

[jeremy_green]

It is primarily a leading chord as the sound strongly pulls towards resolution. Many times it replaces a diminished chord (VII chord) leading back to the I major chord.

 

Mess around with it and experiment as it is a very distinct sound

[Jasco]

 

Could you use it as a replacement for an ordinary minor7 chord.?

 

 

No. But try it as a sub for a dominant chord. Play the m7b5 a major 3rd higher than the dominant chord it's replacing. For example, use Bm7b5 for G7.

[meganutt7]

you actually CAN use it as a substitution for a minor 7th chord, but from a minor third below... Meaning, if you are playing over a Cm7 chord, you would play an Am7b5 (this would be equivelant to an inversion of a Cm6 chord). I find that you can substitute almost ANY chord with any other chord as long as you know the relationship and what sort of tensions you may be creating.

[Poparad]

Rather than mess with substitutions and other esoteric things, why not start with how the chord is actually used on its own?

 

Here's where you would typically see the chord used:

 

In the key of Am:

 

Bm7b5 -> E7 -> Am

 

By itself, the m7b5 chord is almost always used as a ii chord before a V chord in a minor key.

[meganutt7]

Poparad is correct... If you examine a tune like Black Orpheus (also Called Manha De Carnaval, or A Day In The Life of A Fool, by Luis Bonfa), this tune is almost exclusively in the key of Am. For the Bm7b5 you can play a few things.. either you can use Locrian, which is the same as playing A aeolian (Natural Minor) over it, or you can use A Harmonic minor, in which case you would get a mode yielding 1, b2, b3, 4, b5, 6, b7; like a Locrian natural 6... or you could use the ever popular (yet dangerous) D Melodic Minor over it, which would yield what they call a Locrian natural 2... 1, 2, b3, 4, b5, b6, b7.

 

This sound has no "avoid notes" so there is little chance of playing things that are dissonant beyond reproach.

 

The only thing to remember is that if you're playing it in context over a Bm7b5 - E7 - Am, you have to be aware of the notes that would clash with the E7 afterwards... Meaning, the D Melodic Minor is: D, E, F, G, A, B, C#. Over the E, you would need to adjust a few notes... To MY ears (and if you're implying a minor tonality) the V7 chord is usually going to have a b9 and #5 (or b13, depending on how you look at it) so the C# is not the best choice for that sonic implication (again, just my opinion) and of course, adding a G# to it to make it sound like a proper 7th chord can't hurt either.

 

A great trick is the play Melodic minor up a minor third from the root of the m7b5 chord, then up another minor third from there over the V7 chord, then a Major third up from there for the Im chord... what this does is: over Bm7b5 - D Melodic Minor (implying Locrian natural 9) to F Melodic Minor over the E7 (implying E Altered) to A Melodic Minor over the Am... Safe!

[Terje]

 

Could you use it as a replacement for an ordinary minor7 chord.?

 

 

I think you can actually but that wouldn't be the most common place you'd find it. It comes in a ii-V-i progression, the minor cadence, in C minor that woould be Dm7b5-G7alt.-Cm7.

 

As you may or may not know it's not that uncommon that jazz musicians treat any given dominant 7th chord as an altered chord, if it functions as a V chord in the progression.

[SlaveNewWorld0]

I cannot put my guitar down unless I resolve a diminished chord.

 

Feels like some terrible is about to happen...