Major 13 Chords
Hi. This next series is Major 13 chords. We‘ve done straight 13s which are essentially done at 7 chords, or 7-ish chords, they have the flat 7 and then everything else is pretty normal. And this one Major 13, we are going to just leave the 7 in its natural position. We are not going to flat it. It is going to mellow it out a little bit and give it more of a friendly type of sound instead of a cutting sound that comes from the dominant 7 category. So here we go, these are going to be similar to the ones that we have done before. So if you are going to see some limit, some similarities, great. If not, then you might want to review. Downloads some of our PDF guides and diagrams and charts and so on, as of that will help you to understand the language and what we are coming from. That is if you knew or even if you have been playing for a while. Sometimes it helps to get in a little better with some information.
Anyway, let us go ahead and start here in the 5th fret where we start with the straight 13 chords. Your got your index finger here on the 6th string on the 5th fret and then we are going to do 2 fingers, our middle and our ring on the 3rd and 4th, on the 6th. It’s sort of a Major 7, that is the 7 back and then on 13, or 6, or high 6 is going to be up here. So this is Form 1 off of the E string, A Major 13. There you go. Enjoy! See you in the next chord.
This next chord is B Major 13 and we are just going to take what we did with A, I am just going to move it up. This is the form 1 chord bass string, the root is on the bottom string. There are a lot of 13 chords and there are types of sophisticated versions of these chords that have the tonic or the root on top, at the middle and all over the place and we have other videos that go into the inversions as well for each one of these chords, but these are just root position chords. So for now, these are the best ones for you to learn. So if you just starting up, be sure to practice progressions and everything else and graduate into this first and then do the inversions later, per my advice. But you do not have to take my advice. No one ever does anyway. Okay, here we go. This is B Major 13. And just go through, do a string check, make sure that it is coming out okay. And there you have it. And this can be swapped out for Major 7 chords, Major 9 chords, Major 11 chords and just plain Major chords. So you can have a little ornamentation to anything with them. So see you in the next chord.
This is C Major 13 and this is just one fret above B as C is one fret higher and it is also one half-step higher as well in the piano. So if you have a keyboard diagram, you can kind of to do a little comparison. This is our C Major 13 chord, one fret higher than what we just got done doing before if you were here. If you weren’t, that is okay. C Major 13. Thanks. See you in the next chord.
This next chord is Form 2. It looks like the straight 13 version on the A string although it is slightly different. We are moving the flat 7 up to Major 7 here. And we are also going to be muting out the B string for this form. This is a snappy little chord; we use it in a lot of different circumstances. As you can see per the diagram, I have my middle finger on the 3rd fret on the 5th string, my index is on 4th string on the 2nd fret, and the rest of the diagram, you kind of see where stuff goes, so here we go. And you just rank over those muted strings. So that is C Major 13 Form 2. See you in the next chord.
This next one is D Major 13. This is Form 2 as well. This is the same form we use for the C Major 13 Form 2 and we are just going to do it here, just be careful with the muted strings and let it go. Just give it a shot. Just go through these muted strings. The B string is kind of a toughie, you can get through it pretty easily. Like I said, these are just some root forms that I use but they are not necessarily the end-all so be sure to check out other versions on our other videos and so on. See you in the next chord.
This next chord is E Major 13 and this Form 2, same as D Major 13. Try to use your fingers at these chords. You do not have to but it is a good idea just to kind of get the feel for them. So E Major 13. See you in the next chord.
This is F Major 13. We are going back to the Form 1 position for this chord. This is down on the 1st fret, we are going to use our bottom F, bottom string for F. And let us hear what it sounds like, F Major 13. See you in the chord.
This next chord is G Major 13. So it is the same as the F Major 13 with the Form 1 position. So let us go ahead and give it a shot.
Anyway, let us go ahead and start here in the 5th fret where we start with the straight 13 chords. Your got your index finger here on the 6th string on the 5th fret and then we are going to do 2 fingers, our middle and our ring on the 3rd and 4th, on the 6th. It’s sort of a Major 7, that is the 7 back and then on 13, or 6, or high 6 is going to be up here. So this is Form 1 off of the E string, A Major 13. There you go. Enjoy! See you in the next chord.
This next chord is B Major 13 and we are just going to take what we did with A, I am just going to move it up. This is the form 1 chord bass string, the root is on the bottom string. There are a lot of 13 chords and there are types of sophisticated versions of these chords that have the tonic or the root on top, at the middle and all over the place and we have other videos that go into the inversions as well for each one of these chords, but these are just root position chords. So for now, these are the best ones for you to learn. So if you just starting up, be sure to practice progressions and everything else and graduate into this first and then do the inversions later, per my advice. But you do not have to take my advice. No one ever does anyway. Okay, here we go. This is B Major 13. And just go through, do a string check, make sure that it is coming out okay. And there you have it. And this can be swapped out for Major 7 chords, Major 9 chords, Major 11 chords and just plain Major chords. So you can have a little ornamentation to anything with them. So see you in the next chord.
This is C Major 13 and this is just one fret above B as C is one fret higher and it is also one half-step higher as well in the piano. So if you have a keyboard diagram, you can kind of to do a little comparison. This is our C Major 13 chord, one fret higher than what we just got done doing before if you were here. If you weren’t, that is okay. C Major 13. Thanks. See you in the next chord.
This next chord is Form 2. It looks like the straight 13 version on the A string although it is slightly different. We are moving the flat 7 up to Major 7 here. And we are also going to be muting out the B string for this form. This is a snappy little chord; we use it in a lot of different circumstances. As you can see per the diagram, I have my middle finger on the 3rd fret on the 5th string, my index is on 4th string on the 2nd fret, and the rest of the diagram, you kind of see where stuff goes, so here we go. And you just rank over those muted strings. So that is C Major 13 Form 2. See you in the next chord.
This next one is D Major 13. This is Form 2 as well. This is the same form we use for the C Major 13 Form 2 and we are just going to do it here, just be careful with the muted strings and let it go. Just give it a shot. Just go through these muted strings. The B string is kind of a toughie, you can get through it pretty easily. Like I said, these are just some root forms that I use but they are not necessarily the end-all so be sure to check out other versions on our other videos and so on. See you in the next chord.
This next chord is E Major 13 and this Form 2, same as D Major 13. Try to use your fingers at these chords. You do not have to but it is a good idea just to kind of get the feel for them. So E Major 13. See you in the next chord.
This is F Major 13. We are going back to the Form 1 position for this chord. This is down on the 1st fret, we are going to use our bottom F, bottom string for F. And let us hear what it sounds like, F Major 13. See you in the chord.
This next chord is G Major 13. So it is the same as the F Major 13 with the Form 1 position. So let us go ahead and give it a shot.
