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The Am7b5 chord (A half diminished) on guitar

Am7b5 looks intimidating on a chord sheet and turns out to be one of the friendliest half-diminished chords on the guitar: in open position it takes two fingers. It is Am7 with its fifth lowered a half step, and that single change turns a relaxed chord into one that leans forward, toward D7 and G minor.

Am7b5 chord: notes and shapes at a glance

  • Name: A half-diminished (minor seventh flat five)
  • Symbol: Am7b5
  • Notes: A, C, Eb, G
  • Where it belongs: viim7b5 in Bb major, iim7b5 in G minor

Each shape below is written from the thickest string to the thinnest: a number is the fret, 0 an open string, x a string you do not play. New to this? See how to read chord diagrams.

Shape Frets, low E to high E Notes, low to high What it is for
Am7b5, open x0101x A Eb G C Two fingers and two open strings. The quickest way to hear a half-diminished chord.
Am7b5, root on the low E 5x554x A G C Eb Four strings, A string muted. The compact jazz voicing, and the one that leads straight into D7 at fret 5.
Am7b5, top four strings xx7888 A Eb G C The same order of notes as the open shape, moved to the top strings. A on the D string, C on top.
Am7b5, root on the A string x 12 13 12 13 x A Eb G C The movable shape with its root on the A string: first finger on the A string at fret 12, second on the G string at 12, third on the D string at 13, fourth on the B string at 13. Slide it to any half-diminished chord.
Am7b5, open x 0 1 0 1 x · · 1 · 2 · fingers
Am7b5, root on the low E 5 x 5 5 4 x 2 · 3 4 1 · fingers
Am7b5, top four strings x x 7 8 8 8 · · 1 2 3 4 fingers
Am7b5, root on the A string x 12 13 12 13 x

Read each diagram from the thickest string on the left to the thinnest on the right. A cross means the string is not played, a circle means it rings open.

Am7b5 on the neck: every A, C, Eb, G

Standard tuning, frets 0 to 12. The highlighted notes are the notes of Am7b5: any shape you build from them, anywhere on the neck, is still Am7b5.

Fretboard notes
Swipe the fretboard sideways to see every fret.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1 - E
E
F
Gb
G
Ab
A
Bb
B
C
Db
D
Eb
E
2 - B
B
C
Db
D
Eb
E
F
Gb
G
Ab
A
Bb
B
3 - G
G
Ab
A
Bb
B
C
Db
D
Eb
E
F
Gb
G
4 - D
D
Eb
E
F
Gb
G
Ab
A
Bb
B
C
Db
D
5 - A
A
Bb
B
C
Db
D
Eb
E
F
Gb
G
Ab
A
6 - E
E
F
Gb
G
Ab
A
Bb
B
C
Db
D
Eb
E

Reading the name

Take the symbol apart. Am7 is A, C, E, G. b5 means the fifth, E, comes down a half step to Eb. So Am7b5 is A, C, Eb and G. Eb sits on the same fret as D#; it is written Eb because it is an altered E, not a new note.

Chord Notes Open shape
Am7 A, C, E, G x02010
Am7b5 A, C, Eb, G x0101x

On the guitar the change is a single fret: the D string goes from 2 to 1. Play the two shapes back to back and the b5 jumps out. Other names you will see on charts: A half diminished, Aø7, Aø.

The open shape, string by string

String Fret Note Role
A (5th)0ARoot
D (4th)1EbFlat fifth
G (3rd)0GMinor seventh
B (2nd)1CMinor third
Keep both E strings silent. The high E is a natural E, which would cancel the b5 and turn the chord back into Am7. The thumb can damp the low E; the underside of the second finger can touch the high E.

Am7b5, D7, Gm: the minor ii V i

Half-diminished chords live in minor keys, and Am7b5 is the ii chord of G minor. It pulls to D7, which pulls home to Gm.

Version Am7b5 D7 Gm
Open x0101x xx0212 355333
Compact, around fret 5 5x554x x5453x 3x333x (Gm7)

The compact row is how a jazz guitarist would comp it: the hand barely moves, and each chord shares notes with the next. This cadence is a signature of Autumn Leaves as it is usually played, in G minor. See the D7 and G minor pages for those chords on their own.

Am7b5 and Cm6: same notes, different bass

Spell C minor sixth: C, Eb, G, A. Those are exactly the notes of Am7b5. With A in the bass you hear Am7b5; with C in the bass you hear Cm6. Useful when a chart asks for one and your hand already knows the other.

The half-diminished family on this site: Gm7b5, Bm7b5, Cm7b5 and Dm7b5. And for the chord Am7b5 grows out of, see Am7.

Frequently asked questions

How do you play Am7b5 on guitar?
The easiest form is x0101x: first finger on the D string at fret 1, second finger on the B string at fret 1, the A and G strings open, both E strings silent. For a movable version, use 5x554x.
What notes are in Am7b5?
A, C, Eb and G. That is root, minor third, flat fifth and minor seventh: 1, b3, b5, b7. Eb is the same fret as D#; it is spelled Eb because it is a lowered E.
Is Am7b5 the same as A half diminished?
Yes. Am7b5, A half diminished and Aø7 are three names for one chord. It is called half diminished because only the triad (A, C, Eb) is diminished; the seventh, G, is a plain minor seventh, not the double flat seventh of a full diminished chord.
What is the difference between Am7 and Am7b5?
One note. Am7 has E, Am7b5 has Eb. In the open shapes, the D string moves from fret 2 (x02010) to fret 1 (x0101x), and the chord goes from relaxed to tense.
Where is Am7b5 used?
Mostly as the ii chord of G minor, in the cadence Am7b5, D7, Gm. You hear it in jazz standards such as Autumn Leaves, played in G minor, and in bossa nova and minor key ballads.
Yohann Abbou, guitar teacher and founder of Guitar Social Club

Who made this

Guitar Social Club is the work of Yohann Abbou, a guitar teacher in Paris who teaches adults. Every shape on this page is written string by string and checked against standard tuning, and the diagrams are drawn from those same fret numbers. The rest of our free guitar tools, including the chord finder, work the same way.

More about Yohann on his page, and about why Guitar Social Club exists.