How to approach m7b5 chords?

[JTE]

Maybe it's just me, but when I was first exposed to these chords I thought the min in Cmin6 applied to the 6th..

Hm... Did you make the same assumptions regarding the 7th chord notation,; seeing "C7" and presuming it to be 1, 3, 5, 7 or major 7, so "Cmin7" would refer to the 7, giving you a dominant seventh chord of 1, 3, 5, b7?

 

[Wasnex]

Hm... Did you make the same assumptions regarding the 7th chord notation,; seeing "C7" and presuming it to be 1, 3, 5, 7 or major 7, so "Cmin7" would refer to the 7, giving you a dominant seventh chord of 1, 3, 5, b7?

Luckily those were explained to me before I made erroneous assumptions, unlike the minor 6 chord. CMaj7, Cmin7 seemed intuitive. C7 required a quick explanation. Then came the lucky charms which I grasped and understood immediately after learning the spelled out notation. I don't expect jazz notation to be intuitive, it's meant to be short hand. If you want the notation to be intuitive, perhaps you could write Cdom7...IMHO nothing wrong with that except it lacks brevity.

 

[mambo4]

What’s wrong with b3 or b7, or b5?
They are just perfect for that chord.

It may not be wrong for the chord, but as I like to say , context matters.
If I'm grooving along on a Latin root-5 bass line, throwing in a root-flat 5 feels 'dissonant' against the groove (even if it's harmonically correct.) I can't play a perfect 5th because that would be incorrect. So I tend to go for the consonant sounding octave.

In my experience, a m7b5 is not a chord most songs linger on and explore. They are almost always transition chords of some kind, either moving around the cycle or sliding a half step into something more stable. So I tend to place more weight on where the chord is going than what the isolated harmonic implications of m7b5.

Perhaps I'm thinking of what the groove wants rather than what the theory wants.
Alternatively, I'm rationalizing a lazy imagination.

 

[Wasnex]

It may not be wrong for the chord, but as I like to say , context matters.
If I'm grooving along on a Latin root-5 bass line, throwing in a root-flat 5 feels 'dissonant' against the groove (even if it's harmonically correct.) I can't play a perfect 5th because that would be incorrect. So I tend to go for the consonant sounding octave.

In my experience, a m7b5 is not a chord most songs linger on and explore. They are almost always transition chords of some kind, either moving around the cycle or sliding a half step into something more stable. So I tend to place more weight on where the chord is going than what the isolated harmonic implications of m7b5.

Perhaps I'm thinking of what the groove wants rather than what the theory wants.
Alternatively, I'm rationalizing a lazy imagination.

Weird...no problem here playing diminished fifths with Real Book tunes like Black Orpheus, Blue Bossa or Desafinado. Also standards played with a Latin groove such as Alone Together.

IMHO, the diminished fifth of the iim7b5 leads strongly to the root of the V chord and IMHO the dissonance adds a nice energy that intensifies the resolution of the chords. However, depending on the song structure I might play the third or fifth for variety.

Desafinado has a G7(b5) across bars 3 and 4. What would you play....To me this chord screams "Take the A Train!"

 

[Whousedtoplay]

In my experience, a m7b5 is not a chord most songs linger on and explore. They are almost always transition chords of some kind, either moving around the cycle or sliding a half step into something more stable.

You are correct about that min7b5 "transitioning" chord.
Here is one of my numerous and trivial "cliches"(!) when I encounter that half-diminished "transitioning" chord.
That rest on Beat 4 is to be used (some notes), sometimes, for "preparation" to the next chord if/and/or needed.