Chord & FretE7(b5) — dominant seventh flat five
Notes in E7(b5): E – G# – Bb – DFormula: 1 – 3 – b5 – b7In the formula, the numbers count steps of the major scale starting from the note that names the chord; "b" lowers a half step, "#" raises one — and a slash names the bass note.
Here the fifth drops a semitone and the chord turns ambiguous on purpose: the same four notes serve two distant dominants (C7(b5) and F#7(b5)). That coincidence is the door to the tritone substitution.
The same chord on all four instruments
Where to use it: Jazz, bossa and turnarounds — the natural step toward swapping one dominant for another.
This is just one shape of E7(b5). In Chord & Fret, you check it note by note, playing any shape as an arpeggio; open every variation on the neck, grouped by bass note; and set a capo — the diagrams redraw above it. Start free. Unlock everything with Pro. Plays offline.
See the whole neck in Chord & Fret →Part of the Sevenths family.