Ammaj7b5

AmMaj7b5 is A, C, Eb and G#, a minor major seven flat five. The shape this page opens on is written x01114, lowest string first.

Note by note. A is the root, C is the minor third, Eb is the flat fifth and G# is the major seventh.

Also written AmM7b5 or Am(maj7)b5. The same chord either way; which spelling you meet depends on who wrote the chart.

There are 6 common shapes for AmMaj7b5 on the guitar, and 25 derived voicings in 3 families.

One note away. Change a single note of AmMaj7b5 and you have Adim (with one note taken away), Adim7 (with one note moved), Amaj7b5 (with one note moved), Am7b5 (with one note moved), AmMaj7 (with one note moved) or Am/G# (with one note moved).

The common shapes, written lowest string first: x01114, 56x544, 5665x5, xx7898, x-12-x-13-13-11, x-12-13-13-13-x.

Under the hand. 1 of the 6 shapes here sits in open position, and the first uses 1 open string with 1 left unplayed. 3 of the 6 need a barre. Together they cover the neck from the 1st fret to the 13th.

Shell. Root, third and seventh: the guide tones fix the quality, so the fifth is dropped. That is what leaves a string free, so pick a tension to put on top. AmMaj7b5 has x0654x, 5x654x, x-12-x-13-13-11, 5368xx.

Drop 2. A close-position chord with the second voice from the top lowered an octave. Sits on four adjacent strings. AmMaj7b5 has x0111x, xx6545, 5665xx, xx7898, x-12-13-13-13-x, xx1214, 4312xx, x3624x.

Drop 3. The third voice from the top lowered an octave. The dropped voice becomes the bass, which is why a string is skipped. AmMaj7b5 has 4x121x, x3x244, 5x654x, x6x595, 8x789x, x-11-x-8-10-8, 11-x-10-13-10-x, x-12-x-13-13-11.

Tensions. A shell of AmMaj7b5, root, third and seventh, leaves a string free, and the tones that belong over it are the 11 (D) and the b13 (F).

What kind of chord this is. AmMaj7b5 is a diminished chord — root, minor third, flat fifth. diminished and half-diminished chords on every root, and what they are for.

The common shapes and the derived voicings come from different places, and both are explained in where the chords and the theory come from.