Chord of the Week: F13sus

[Algernon]

This weeks' chord is F13sus in the key of Bb major. It is a modified version of the dominant fifth chord F7. Spelled out, the notes are:

1 - F
sus - Bb
5 - C
6(13) - D
7 - Eb

So there are the five notes making up the full chord. It has a nice airy sound. I chose Bb as the major key so I could illustrate how to use the chord in a practical way. I use it in Thad Jones' classic waltz: A Child Is Born. Included are links to the chords as well as sound tracks to demonstrate where the chord(s) would be played. Being able to "hear" the song helps tremendously IMO. The fingering is a little tricky.

F13sus (use in bars 15 & 29 instead of F7sus)
E) - - - - - - - - - x - - - - - D (13)
B) - - - - - - - - - - x - - - - Bb (sus)
G) - - - - - - - x - - - - - - - Eb (7)
D) - - - - - - - - - x - - - - - C (5)
A) - - - - - - - x - - - - - - - F (1)
E) - - - - - - - x - - - - - - - C (5)

I bar fret 8 and go from there. Below is a plain F13 barred at fret 1.

F13 (use in bars 16 & 30 instead of F7)
E) x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - F (1)
B) - - x - - - - - - - - - - - - D (13)
G) - x - - - - - - - - - - - - - A (3)
D) x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Eb (7)
A) - - x - - - - - - - - - - - - C (5)
E) x - - - - - - - - - - - - - - F (1)



Bass & piano

Score

Piano only


:)

[fusion58]

Cool!

One of my favorite chords. It's nice to have alternatives to plain-vanilla dominant seventh chords now and then.

A little tip I got from Scott Henderson:

When improvising over a 13sus (or 7sus or 9sus) chord, use the major seventh arpeggio whose root is a whole step below the 13sus chord.

For example, play an EbMA7 arpeggio over F13sus.