# E♭ Half Diminished 7th piano chord (E♭m7♭5)

E♭m7♭5 contains E♭, G♭, B♭♭ and D♭. A diminished triad with the minor seventh added on top. E♭, G♭ and D♭ are black keys; B♭♭ is white.

- Canonical page: https://piano.org/chords/half-diminished/e-flat/
- Entity: chord:half-diminished-7th:e-flat
- Notes: E♭ G♭ B♭♭ D♭
- Formula: 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7
- Intervals from root: P1, m3, TT, m7
- Interval stack (semitones): 3 3 4
- Also written: E♭m7♭5, Ebm7b5, E♭ half diminished 7th
- Parameters: A440, 12-TET, 165 mm octave, spans centre to centre

## Construction

| Degree | Note | Interval from root | Semitones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | E♭ | Perfect unison | 0 |
| ♭3 | G♭ | Minor third | 3 |
| ♭5 | B♭♭ | Tritone | 6 |
| ♭7 | D♭ | Minor seventh | 10 |

## Fingering

Rest your right hand over the notes with finger 2 on E♭, finger 3 on G♭, finger 4 on B♭♭, finger 5 on D♭. The left hand mirrors it.
Right hand 2-3-4-5, left hand 5-4-3-2. Source: piano.org fingering method v1.

## Inversions

| Position | Bass | Notes in order | Figured bass | Span |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Root position | E♭ | E♭3 G♭3 B♭♭3 D♭4 | 7 | 10 st, 138 mm |
| First inversion (E♭m7♭5/G♭) | G♭ | G♭3 B♭♭3 D♭4 E♭4 | 6/5 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Second inversion (E♭m7♭5/B♭♭) | B♭♭ | B♭♭3 D♭4 E♭4 G♭4 | 4/3 | 9 st, 124 mm |
| Third inversion (E♭m7♭5/D♭) | D♭ | D♭4 E♭4 G♭4 B♭♭4 | 4/2 | 8 st, 110 mm |

## Voicings (10)

| Voicing | Notes | Span | Relation | Omits or adds |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Close, root position | E♭3 G♭3 B♭♭3 D♭4 | 10 st, 138 mm | identical | none |
| Close, first inversion | G♭3 B♭♭3 D♭4 E♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, second inversion | B♭♭3 D♭4 E♭4 G♭4 | 9 st, 124 mm | identical | none |
| Close, third inversion | D♭4 E♭4 G♭4 B♭♭4 | 8 st, 110 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 | B♭♭2 E♭3 G♭3 D♭4 | 16 st, 220 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 3 | G♭2 E♭3 B♭♭3 D♭4 | 19 st, 261 mm | identical | none |
| Drop 2 and 4 | E♭2 B♭♭2 G♭3 D♭4 | 22 st, 303 mm | identical | none |
| Shell, root ♭7 ♭3 | E♭2 D♭3 G♭3 | 15 st, 206 mm | subset | omits B♭♭ |
| Guide tones, ♭3 and ♭7 | G♭3 D♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits E♭ and B♭♭ |
| Rootless close | G♭3 B♭♭3 D♭4 | 7 st, 96 mm | subset | omits E♭ |

## Diatonic function by key

| Key | Roman numeral | Function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| C♯ minor | iim7♭5 | Predominant |
| E major | viim7♭5 | Dominant function |

Classification system: common-practice functional harmony.

## Progressions (2)

| Progression | Key | Role | Sequence | Voice leading |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ii, v, i | C♯ minor | iim7♭5 | D♯m7♭5 to G♯m7 to C♯m7 | E♭m7♭5 opens the phrase |
| vii, I | E major | viim7♭5 | D♯m7♭5 to Emaj7 | E♭m7♭5 opens the phrase |

## One-edit neighbors

| Becomes | Edit | Changes | Common tones |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| E♭dim | 1 ♭3 ♭5 | drops D♭ | 3 |
| E♭m7 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 | B♭♭ becomes B♭ | 3 |
| E♭dim7 | 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭♭7 | D♭ becomes D♭♭ | 3 |
| E♭m9 | 1 ♭3 5 ♭7 9 | B♭♭ becomes B♭, F | 3 |
| E♭m | 1 ♭3 5 | B♭♭, D♭ becomes B♭ | 2 |
| E♭7 | 1 3 5 ♭7 | G♭, B♭♭ becomes G, B♭ | 2 |
| E♭mMaj7 | 1 ♭3 5 7 | B♭♭, D♭ becomes B♭, D | 2 |
| E♭aug7 | 1 3 ♯5 ♭7 | G♭, B♭♭ becomes G, B | 2 |
| E♭7sus4 | 1 4 5 ♭7 | G♭, B♭♭ becomes A♭, B♭ | 2 |
| E♭m6 | 1 ♭3 5 6 | B♭♭, D♭ becomes B♭, C | 2 |

## Set theory

- Absolute pitch classes: {3, 6, 9, 1}
- Relative pitch classes: [0, 3, 6, 10]
- Normal order: [1, 3, 6, 9]
- Prime form: (0258)
- Forte number: 4-27
- Interval vector: <012111>

## Frequencies (close root position)

| Note | MIDI | Frequency |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E♭3 | 51 | 155.56 Hz |
| G♭3 | 54 | 185.00 Hz |
| B♭♭3 | 57 | 220.00 Hz |
| D♭4 | 61 | 277.18 Hz |

## Questions and answers

### What notes are in E♭m7♭5?

E♭m7♭5 contains E♭, G♭, B♭♭ and D♭. The formula is 1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭7.

### How do you play E♭m7♭5 on piano?

Play E♭, G♭, B♭♭ and D♭ together. Right hand fingers 2, 3, 4, 5; left hand 5, 4, 3, 2. E♭, G♭ and D♭ are black keys; B♭♭ is white.

### What are the inversions of E♭m7♭5?

4 positions: root position E♭ G♭ B♭♭ D♭, E♭m7♭5/G♭, E♭m7♭5/B♭♭, E♭m7♭5/D♭.

### What keys contain E♭m7♭5?

2: iim7♭5 in C♯ minor, viim7♭5 in E major.

### What is the difference between E♭m7♭5 and E♭dim?

Drops D♭. 3 of the notes are shared.

### What is an easy E♭m7♭5 for small hands?

The guide tones, ♭3 and ♭7 voicing, G♭3 D♭4, spans 7 semitones or about 96 mm.

### What are the frequencies of E♭m7♭5?

From E♭3 at A440 in 12-TET: 155.56, 185.00, 220.00, 277.18 Hz.

### What is the set class of E♭m7♭5?

Prime form (0258), Forte 4-27, interval vector &lt;012111&gt;.

### How do I transpose E♭m7♭5 to another key?

Keep the 1, ♭3, ♭5, ♭7 formula on the new root. Cm7♭5 is C, E♭, G♭, B♭; C♯m7♭5 is C♯, E, G, B.

### Is D♯m7♭5 the same as E♭m7♭5?

Enharmonically yes: the same piano keys and the same sound, spelled differently.

## Provenance

Every derived value above is computed by the piano.org theory kernel from the root, the quality and the stated parameters. Nothing is hand-entered per chord.

Machine record: https://piano.org/api/knowledge/v1/entities/chord:half-diminished-7th:e-flat
Last reviewed: 2026-08-12