February 7, 2016

Ukulele iiø-V7-i Progression


Half-diminished chords are commonly notated with a small strikethrough circle ø. They are also known as "minor 7th flat 5", or "7b5" chords. They naturally occur on the second degree of minor scales. That's why they like to resolve to the V7 and the minor i. Here's a iiø-V7-i progression using the first half-diminished shape found in my previous post. It is identical to a iv6-V7-i progression. The diamond heads indicate the position of the chord root.

The iiø-V7-i progression using the second shape looks like this:

"But are there actual songs that use this progression?" you might ask. Yes, there are. Any time a song modulates to minor key, even temporarily, the new key center can be established with this progression. A popular song that does this is My Favorite Things in the following line at the end of the first minor section:
iiø (F#ø)V7 (B7)i (Em)
… these are a few of MyFav-vor-iteThings.Cream colored …
Here is the same progression using the third shape.

A song where you can use this shape is Fly Me To The Moon in the following lines:
iiø (Bø)V7 (E7)i (Am)
… let me see whatspring is like onJupiter andMars …
… you are all Ilong for all Iworship andadore …
And here's the progression using the fourth shape

Chord diagrams generated by <uke-chord>