How to Play Minor 7th b5 Arpeggios in Five Positions

Intro for minor seventh flat five arpeggio or chord — how to play f# minor seventh flat five arpeggio picture

How to Play Minor 7th b5 Arpeggios in Five Positions

How do you play minor 7th b5 arpeggios in five positions?

The minor 7th b5 chord comes from the major scale. It is built on the seventh note of the scale or the note exactly a half step below the major scale root note.

The formula for building this chord or arpeggio against its own major scale is 1, b3, b5, and b7. I say against its own major scale because anytime you have a formula you are comparing these notes to a major scale with the same root note. For example, the F# m7b5 formula would be compared to the F# major scale. That is why you see the b3, b5, and b7. These notes are lowered a half step compared to the notes of the F# major scale.

This arpeggio or chord F#m7b5 is the seventh of the G major scale which I will link to here if you are not familiar with it.

We have so far covered the major arpeggio, minor arpeggio, and the dominant seventh arpeggio. This arpeggio without the b7 is a diminished triad, (1, b3, b5). Not including the dominant seventh chord or arpeggio since it is a four-note chord, the major, minor, and diminished triads all exist in the major scale.

If you build triads on each note of the G major scale you will have, G major, A minor, B minor, C major, D major, E minor, and F# minor b5.

Lastly, the only other type of triad to cover is the Augmented triad (link to my augmented article), 1, 3, #5, which will be covered later.

Pattern One

root note on sixth string for the f sharp minor seventh flat five arpeggio — Pattern One of the F Sharp minor Seventh Flat Five Arpeggio

Pattern Two

second pattern for f# minor seventh flat five arpeggio — Pattern Two of the F# minor Seventh Flat Five Arpeggio

Pattern Three

root note f sharp minor flat five on the second and fifth strings — Pattern Three of the F#m7 b5 Arpeggio

Pattern Four

root notes on fifth and third stings for the f sharp minor seventh flat five arpeggio — Pattern Four F#m7b5 Arpeggio

Pattern Five

Considerations

The fingering is optional so experiment.

In Closing

Memorize all patterns. Experiment with the fingering that will work for you, no rules. Memorize the formula for everything you learn, this m7b5 formula is 1, b3, b5, b7. Practice this arpeggio over an F#m7b5 backing track from YouTube.

Next pick any of the other harmonies in the key of G to see how the F#m7b5 arpeggio sounds over those backing tracks. (G major, A minor, B minor, C major, D major, and E minor backing tracks). You don’t have to stick to just the F#m7b5 backing track.

Download

Download a pdf of these F#m7b5 patterns here.