1,008 guitar chords with several shapes each, finger numbers, difficulty and real sound, in any tuning.
B♭13 (also written A♯13) is a dominant thirteenth chord made of 6 notes: B♭, D, F, A♭, C, G. It sounds full and jazzy, the most colourful dominant chord, and you hear it in jazz, blues and big-band endings. It is the V chord of E♭ major and turns up in 2 other keys.
The library above opens on B♭13 with 14 shapes up and down the neck. Tap a shape to hear it, or play it one string at a time.
| Note | Degree | Interval from B♭ | Semitones |
|---|---|---|---|
| B♭ | 1 | root | 0 |
| D | 3 | major third | 4 |
| F | 5 | perfect fifth | 7 |
| A♭ | ♭7 | minor seventh | 10 |
| C | 9 | major ninth | 14 |
| G | 13 | major thirteenth | 21 |
Formula: 1 – 3 – 5 – ♭7 – 9 – 13. On guitar the 5th is often left out of the bigger shapes without changing the chord. With the other spelling, A♯13 is A♯, C𝄪, E♯, G♯, B♯, F𝄪: the same sounds under different names.
x10014x101336555646867886560xx635334Every full shape of B♭13 needs a barre or a stretch. In many songs you can also swap in B♭maj7, B♭sus2, B♭sus4, which share most of its notes and need no barre. If you want the real thing, the fret 4 shape is the gentlest start.
B♭13 belongs to 3 keys: V in E♭ major, VII in C minor, V7 in E♭ minor. In E♭ major, try I–V–vi–IV: E♭ – B♭13 – Cm – A♭.
B♭, D, F, A♭, C, G: the root, major third, fifth, minor seventh, ninth, thirteenth.
Fret 4: 655564 (low string first), rated Medium.
B♭13 has G. B♭13 sounds full and jazzy, the most colourful dominant chord; B♭9 sounds funky and full, a seventh chord with more colour.
It needs a stretch in every shape, so it takes some practice. Start with the fret 4 shape, rated Medium.