Banjo · half diminished seventh
Cm7♭5 Chord on Banjo
C Half-Diminished 7th (m7♭5) is C, Eb, Gb, Bb — the 1-b3-b5-b7 pattern of a half diminished seventh chord. Here is the shape, the audio, and what usually goes wrong.
There is no open Cm7b5 on banjo — the single shape below is a barre, which is exactly why this chord trips people up. Take it slowly and check every string.
Start here — Movable m7b5 Shape (1st fret)
Barre at fret 1 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other half diminished seventh chord.
What beginners get wrong
Moving in and out of it
The shape above: Movable m7b5 Shape (1st fret) — barred at fret 1.
Listening: each shape above has its own play button, and each one plays the notes that shape actually produces — not a generic triad.
Cm7b5 on other instruments
Same notes, different hands. Every link below is a real page with diagrams and audio.
Guitar
Cm7♭5 on guitar
2 voicings · easiest is intermediate
Piano
Cm7♭5 on piano
3 voicings · easiest is intermediate
Ukulele
Cm7♭5 on ukulele
1 voicing · easiest is intermediate
Bass
Cm7♭5 on bass
1 voicing · easiest is advanced
Mandolin
Cm7♭5 on mandolin
1 voicing · easiest is intermediate
Or see C Half-Diminished 7th (m7♭5) on every instrument at once.
Chords next door
Same root, different colour — and all of them playable on banjo.
Cm7b5 on Banjo — questions people ask
What is the easiest way to play Cm7b5 on banjo?
“Movable m7b5 Shape (1st fret)” — which we rate advanced — is the easiest Cm7b5 shape on banjo. Barre at fret 1 — harder to hold than an open shape, but movable: slide it and you have every other half diminished seventh chord. There is no open Cm7b5 on banjo, so a barre is unavoidable; this is the least demanding one.
What notes are in the C Half-Diminished 7th (m7♭5) chord?
C Half-Diminished 7th (m7♭5) is C, Eb, Gb, Bb — the 1-b3-b5-b7 interval pattern of a half diminished seventh chord. Every voicing on this page uses those notes and nothing else; they just appear in a different order and octave.
What can I play instead of Cm7b5?
The nearest stand-ins on banjo that keep the same root are Csus4, Csus2, C. They keep the root and the fifth and only change what sits in the middle, so most songs still work — but check the swap against the melody, because the note you removed may be the one the tune is singing.
Can I play Cm7b5 on other instruments?
Yes. Cm7b5 is the same set of notes everywhere; only the fingering changes. This site has diagrams and audio for it on guitar, piano, ukulele, bass, mandolin.
Learn the theory behind Cm7b5
The shape gets your fingers there. These explain why it sounds the way it does.
Barre Chords — The Wall Every Guitarist Climbs
This one asks for a barre. The article is the fix for the buzzing and the aching hand.
7 min read
Functional Harmony: Three Roles, One Engine
Diminished chords are almost always doing a job. This explains which one.
6 min read
Cadences — The Four Ways a Phrase Ends
Where all that tension goes — how the chord resolves into the next one.
4 min read