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F♯ half-diminished chord

F♯ half-diminished Diminished & augmented family

Bittersweet and searching.

Easiest shape1 of 4

Square: the root. In colour: the flat 5th, which gives the chord its sound.

Change a finger and see what it becomes

Built from

F♯root
Aminor 3rd
Cflat 5th
Eflat 7th

A minor 7 with a flat 5th: the softness of the 7th meets the instability of the flat 5th.

Tension: Restless

Hear it in a progression

Minor ii–V–i
The sad cousin of the jazz ii–V–I. In E minor.
Capo and transpose

Where it goes next

Thinking in E minor, where it is the iiø7 chord.

Bm7
v7. The minor setup: ii° pulls into v or V.

Sounds close

Cdim7
Shares 3 of its notes. Both have F♯, A and C.
D7
Shares 3 of its notes. Both have F♯, A and C.
Fmaj7
Shares 3 of its notes. Both have A, C and E.
Am7
Shares 3 of its notes. Both have A, C and E.

Keys it lives in