A7b5 guitar chord

3rd inversion · G in the bass
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Inversion
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About A7b5 — inversions voicings

A7b5 keeps the dominant 3rd and flat 7th of , but lowers its 5th to : A, C#, Eb and G.

The flat 5th is the note that names this chord, so let it sound. A sharp 11th is written differently because its natural 5th remains.

Also written A7(b5), A7-5 or A7♭5.

A7b5 inversions guitar chord diagram: A, C#, Eb, G, played 3x122x
A7b5 inversions guitar chord voicing: 3-x-1-2-2-x.

What an inversion is

How to use A7b5

1Leading into the V from above

Fr+6 – V – i

Built on the flat sixth of a minor key, A7b5 is the classical French sixth under a lead-sheet name, one of the strongest ways into G#: its bass falls a half step and its seventh rises a half step, both onto the V’s root. The 7♭5 a tritone away has the same four notes.

Listen for: The seventh rises a half step as the bass falls a half step; they meet on the root of the V, an octave apart.

Heard in“Bernie’s Tune”

What to play over A7b5

Useful scales

  • +BE#

    Contains A7b5 and adds ninth and sharp fifth.

  • +BEF#

    Adds ninth, fifth and thirteenth, for a dominant sharp-eleventh color.

  • +BbB#F

    Contains A7b5 and adds flat ninth, sharp ninth and sharp fifth.

  • +BbCEF#

    Contains A7b5 and adds flat ninth, sharp ninth, fifth and thirteenth.

Every scale

Chords near A7b5

Change one note

  • open strings
    open strings
    G → G#

    Raise the flat seventh to the major seventh.

    See Amaj7b5 chord →
  • 3rd inversion
    3rd inversion
    C# → C

    Lower the major third to the minor third.

    See Am7b5 chord →
  • open strings
    open strings
    Eb → E

    Raise the flat fifth to the fifth.

    See A7 chord →
  • 3rd inversion
    3rd inversion
    Eb → E#

    Replace the flat fifth with the sharp fifth.

    See Aaug7 chord →

Add a note

Altered dominant chords on every root

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in how this site is built.

Midi Settings

7.5
Play Style
One pass of the pick from the lowest string up, everything left ringing.
Instrument
350
150

Style

Shows each chord the way this style would voice it, and marks which of its alternatives belong to the idiom.

Layout

Left Handed Mode