The Minor ii-V-i

Minor keys use the same movement with one substitution: the ii chord becomes half-diminished.

In B minor that gives C#m7b5, F#7, Bm7. The half-diminished chord is doing the same structural job as the plain minor seventh did in a major key, but it carries more tension, which is why minor ii-V-i progressions sound darker and more dramatic than their major equivalents.

This is why lesson one told you that half-diminished chords are signposts. When one shows up in a chart, a minor chord is usually two chords away. You can often predict where a tune is going before you get there.

F♯m7♭5

F♯m7♭5. Compare the sound with F♯m7 — one note lower and the whole mood changes.

Bm7

Bm7 — the resolution this track keeps returning to.

Em7

Em7. Note that this is the same grip as the Bm7 above, five frets up.

This track vamps in B minor and puts a half-diminished chord right in front of you: the changes move between Bm7, Em7 and F#m7b5 over and over.

Play the three voicings above and nothing else. When the F#m7b5 arrives, let it ring and hear the tension — then hear it release when the Bm7 comes back.

Do a second pass where you play only the F#m7b5 and stay silent on the other chords. Making one chord your whole part is a fast way to learn where it lives in the form.

A B minor vamp built on Bm7, Em7 and F♯m7♭5. Two passes: all three chords, then the half-diminished alone.