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Half diminished chords and shell voicings

There is a reasonable chance that the first minor chord you learned to play was an a minor. That means an E seven was probably not far behind.


A minor was easy because it was all white notes. And you tolerated your first accidental in that dominant chord because the G sharp was such a vibe.


But perhaps the third cord you should’ve looked at was this one. a B half diminished.


Because with a flip of a finger, not only can we turn it into an E7 cord, but you get your first color tan. A flat nine. And that, friends, is definitely a vibe.


And best of all, if we take the shell of that b half diminished in our left hand, we can sketch out the harmony with just two notes and move between those two chords with just one of those notes.


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