Learn › B Half-Diminished Chord on Piano (Bm7b5)
New Released in April 2026
B Half-Diminished Chord on Piano (Bm7b5)
To play Bm7b5 on the piano, press B, D, F, A together: root, minor third, flat fifth and minor seventh. Take Bdim and add A. Here you will find its inversions, both hands and the chords it belongs with.
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- MIDI keyboard
- Digital or acoustic piano
- Guitar
- Computer, phone or tablet
Four ways to play Bm7b5
A seventh chord has four notes, so it has four positions. Each one is still Bm7b5.
Root position: B D F A
1st inversion: D F A B
2nd inversion: F A B D
3rd inversion: A B D F
Learning Bm7b5 step by step
- Start in root position: B, D, F, A, four times, eyes on the symbol.
- Walk up through the inversions (D F A B, F A B D, A B D F) without lifting the whole hand.
- Play it in its ii-V-I, Bm7b5 → E7 → Am, four beats per chord.
- Finally meet it in random order between other chords, with a check on every note.
Short daily rounds fix Bm7b5 in memory faster than one long practice a week.
Playing Bm7b5 with each hand
| Hand | B | D | F | A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Right hand | 1 (thumb) | 2 | 3 | 5 (little) |
| Left hand | 5 (little) | 3 | 2 | 1 (thumb) |
Play Bm7b5 broken first, B, D, F, A one by one, then together: a wrong key stands out.
A three-note Bm7b5
Here keep the flat fifth: B F A, root, b5 and seventh. The b5 is what separates Bm7b5 from Bm7, so the third is the note to leave out.
Practise Bm7b5 by playing
Knowing Bm7b5 on paper is step one. ChordRunner makes you find it fast, mixed with other chords. MIDI keyboard or microphone, both work.
Play the demoCommon questions
What is the difference between Bm7b5 and Bdim?
Bm7b5 adds one note to the Bdim triad: A, the minor seventh. That fourth note is what makes it a seventh chord.
Can I play Bm7b5 with three notes?
Yes. Keep root, flat fifth and seventh, B F A, and leave out the third. The flat fifth is what makes it half-diminished.
Where does Bm7b5 go?
Bm7b5 is the iiø7 of A minor and the viiø7 of C major. In a minor ii-V-i it opens the cadence: Bm7b5 → E7 → Am.
Can I practise Bm7b5 with a MIDI keyboard?
Yes. In ChordRunner a USB MIDI keyboard is detected automatically, and an acoustic piano works through the microphone. Bm7b5 counts in any inversion, as long as B, D, F, A sound together.
Your instrument is the controller.
ChordRunner is a browser game that teaches piano and guitar chords: a chord appears on screen, you play it on a real instrument, and your runner jumps. MIDI keyboard or microphone, both work.
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