From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

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Half-diminished 7th chords

Half-diminished 7th chords

From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: Harmony

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Half-diminished 7th chords

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- The half-diminished 7th chord occurs naturally on the 7th degree of the major scale. It can serve multiple harmonic functions in a song. Let's first discuss how we make the chord and what it sounds like. A half-diminished 7th chord is basically a minor 7th chord, except that it has a diminished 5th. So let's take a B minor 7 chord. If we lower the 5th, which is normally perfect, and we make it diminished, you'll see we have a B half-diminished 7 chord. We can create the B half-diminished 7th chord from the 7th note of the C major scale. Here's a C major scale. The 7th note is B, and if we build up in thirds, you'll see we have a B half-diminished 7th chord. You could look at a half-diminished chord as a diminished triad with a minor 7th added. Let's stick with our B half-diminished chord. We have a B diminished triad, and if we go with a minor 7th from the root, we have an A. Since it's tertian, it's built by stacking three thirds, which are minor, minor, and major, respectively…

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