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.