C♯m7♭5 on bass

C♯, E, G and B · half-diminished · 4 shapes

The course explains what this page shows in Lesson 13 · Sevenths.

C♯m7♭5

  1. C♯1
  2. E♭3
  3. G♭5
  4. B♭7

C♯m7♭5 is C♯, E, G and B.

C♯m7♭5 has four notes, and the bass has four strings to play them on. The rest of this page shows how a hand fits one to the other.

On the staff

C♯EGB

On a bass staff, C♯m7♭5 is written C♯, E, G and B.

The staff shows the notes one after the other, then together. Written this way the chord is in close position, which means each note sits as near to the one below it as the spelling allows. The grips below arrange the same notes for your hand, often spread over more than an octave, so each one tells you which note is lowest.

C♯m7♭5 under a hand

C♯m7♭5root positionposition 9
9fr1♭5♭7♭3EADG
♭5♭7♭31C2C3C4

Strummed from the lowest string to the highest, this grip sounds C♯, G, B and E, which are the degrees 1 ♭5 ♭7 ♭3 rather than the 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 of the written chord. The root is the lowest note, so this grip is in root position and sounds the way the written chord suggests.

Between the strings you sound: TT›M3›P4

C♯m7♭5/Efirst inversionposition 11
11fr♭3♭71♭5EADG
♭3♭7♭51C2C3C4

Strummed from the lowest string to the highest, this grip sounds E, B, C♯ and G, which are the degrees ♭3 ♭7 1 ♭5 rather than the 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 of the written chord. The lowest note is the ♭3 rather than the root, so this grip is in first inversion, written C♯m7♭5/E. It has the same notes as the root-position grip, but with E in the bass it sounds different.

Between the strings you sound: P5›M2›TT

C♯m7♭5/Gsecond inversionposition 2
2fr♭51♭3♭7EADG
♭5♭3♭71C1C2C3

Strummed from the lowest string to the highest, this grip sounds G, C♯, E and B, which are the degrees ♭5 1 ♭3 ♭7 rather than the 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 of the written chord. The lowest note is the ♭5 rather than the root, so this grip is in second inversion, written C♯m7♭5/G. It has the same notes as the root-position grip, but with G in the bass it sounds different.

Between the strings you sound: TT›m3›P5

C♯m7♭5/Bthird inversionposition 5
5fr♭7♭3♭51EADG
♭7♭3♭51C1C2C3C4

Strummed from the lowest string to the highest, this grip sounds B, E, G and C♯, which are the degrees ♭7 ♭3 ♭5 1 rather than the 1 ♭3 ♭5 ♭7 of the written chord. The lowest note is the ♭7 rather than the root, so this grip is in third inversion, written C♯m7♭5/B. It has the same notes as the root-position grip, but with B in the bass it sounds different.

Between the strings you sound: P4›m3›TT

Four shapes for C♯m7♭5 on bass: C♯m7♭5, C♯m7♭5/E, C♯m7♭5/G and C♯m7♭5/B.

Every grip here is C♯m7♭5, but no two of them sound alike. A chord with the root as its lowest note is in root position, and a chord with any other note at the bottom is an inversion. On a keyboard you choose the inversion you want, but on a neck the shape your hand can reach usually decides it for you.

C♯, E, G and B on the whole neck

EADG123456789101112131415♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭7♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5♭71♭3♭5

This diagram marks every C♯, E, G and B on the first fifteen frets of the bass.

Every grip above is a handful of the notes on this diagram, and none of them uses a note that is not shown here.

Where C♯m7♭5 comes from

C♯m7♭5 is a chord of D major and B natural minor.

A chord does not belong to a single key. Each major or natural minor key listed here contains every note of C♯m7♭5, which is why the same grip turns up in songs that otherwise have little in common.

The words on this page were written with the help of AI and may contain a mistake. Its diagrams are drawn by Everyfret’s own software. How Everyfret is made