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 My | Fav-vor-ite | Things. | Cream colored … |
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 what | spring is like on | Jupiter and | Mars … |
| … you are all I | long for all I | worship and | adore … |
Chord diagrams generated by <uke-chord>