Lesson 24 · All 12 keys

Major 7th ♭5 Chord Trainer

Learn how a major 7th flat 5 (maj7♭5) chord is built one semitone-count at a time — a major 7th chord with its 5th lowered a semitone — then put it to work with three MIDI exercises: playing all 12 maj7♭5 chords around the circle of fourths, and 5 jazz plus 5 gospel chord progressions that show off its unsettled, "floating" color, in every key.

How a major 7th ♭5 chord is built

A major 7th flat 5 chord — written maj7♭5 (also seen as M7♭5 or Δ7♭5) — is a 4-note chord: a major 7th chord with one note altered. Instead of the perfect 5th a plain major 7th chord uses, this chord lowers the 5th a semitone. Every maj7♭5 chord — in any of the 12 keys — is built the exact same way, by counting semitones to the right from a root note:

  1. Start on the root — the note that names the chord.
  2. Count 4 semitones to the right to land on the major 3rd.
  3. From there, count 2 more semitones to the right (6 semitones from the root) to land on the diminished (flatted) 5th.
  4. From there, count 5 more semitones to the right (11 semitones from the root) to land on the major 7th.
Example — D major 7th ♭5 (Dmaj7♭5): start on D, count 4 semitones right to reach F♯, 2 more to reach A♭, then 5 more to reach C♯. D‑F♯‑A♭‑C♯ is the Dmaj7♭5 chord. The pattern 4, 2, 5 (11 semitones total from root to top) is what makes a chord a "maj7♭5" — every one of the 12 maj7♭5 chords is this same shape, just moved to start on a different key.
Notice that a maj7♭5 chord uses the exact same outer two intervals as a plain major 7th chord (a major 3rd on the bottom, a major 7th on top) — the only difference is that lowered 5th sitting in the middle. That single altered note is what gives the chord its unsettled, "floating" quality: it never quite comes to rest the way a plain major 7th does, which is exactly why jazz and gospel pianists reach for it as a chromatic passing chord or a spicier substitute wherever a major 7th chord would otherwise sit.

Try it: pick a root and build the chord step by step

Step 1 of 4
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Chord toneNoteSemitones from rootMIDI #

All 12 maj7♭5 chords at a glance

ChordRoot+4 semitones → 3rd+2 semitones → ♭5th+5 semitones → 7th

This MIDI exercise plays all 12 maj7♭5 chords, one after another, moving around the circle of fourths — each chord's root sits a perfect 4th (5 semitones) above the last one: C → F → B♭ → E♭ → A♭ → D♭ → G♭/F♯ → B → E → A → D → G → back to C. Every chord is played as a full 4-note maj7♭5 chord (root, 3rd, ♭5th, and 7th together).

Chord 1 of 12
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The 12 chords, in circle-of-fourths order

#ChordRoot3rd♭5th7th

Five jazz chord progressions that put the maj7♭5 chord to work — mostly as a floating, unresolved substitute wherever a plain major 7th chord would otherwise sit. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes

Five gospel chord progressions built the same way. Pick a progression and play it in one key or cycle through all 12.

Key of C
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Progression in C

DegreeChordNotes