The 13#11 Chord | Slide this Jazzy Altered Chord into Your Progressions

The Elements of the 13#11 chord

To begin with, the 13#11 is a Major chord.  Using C Major as an example, it contains the root, 3rd and 5th tones.Beyond the Major chord, it also contains the flatted 7th tone.  You can find the flatted 7th tone by counting 7 tones up from the tonic of C Major to the Major 7 tone and lowering it a half step.A faster way to find the flatted 7th is to find the tone that is a whole step below the root.

In this case, B flat is a whole step (two keys) below the root.  You can then move it up an octave.

Next, the 13#11 chord contains the 9 tone.  Find the 9th by counting 9 tones up from the tonic of C Major.Next, it also contains the sharp 11th tone.  This is referred to as an altered tone.

First, find the 11th by counting 11 tones up from the tonic of C Major to the 11th tone and raise it a half step.Last of all, the 13#11 chord contains the 13th tone.  Find the 13th by counting up 13 tones from the tonic of C Major to the 13th tone.

The 13#11 Chord

So in its entirety, the 13#11 chord consists of the root, 3rd, 5th, flat 7th, 9th, sharp 11th and 13 tones.

The 13#11 Chord Voicing

The illustrated 13#11 chord above shows it being played in a closed voicing. This is essentially stacking a chord from the root up.  But we can achieve a more satisfying chord voicing by relocating some of the chord tones to give it a more open sound.  

Spread the chord out by playing the root and flat 7 in your left hand.  Play the 9th, 11th and 13th while omitting the 5th tone.  This opens up the chord and gives it a rich sounding voicing.

You can also re-voice the chord by omitting the root and playing the 3rd and 7th tones in your left hand while playing the 9th, sharp 11th and 13th tones in the right.

A tricky shortcut to Play the 13#11 

If you’re familiar with Major triads, you can use this tricky shortcut to play the 13#11 chord in any key.  You can do this in three easy steps.

1  Choose and play the root of the chord in your left hand and play the flatted 7th tone with it.  This is C and B flat.

2  In the right hand, find the 9th tone and play a Major triad based on it.  This is a D Major chord.

3  To further voice the chord, add the 2nd tone to the triad in the right hand.  This is E added to the D Major chord.  This is a D add2 chord, but in context, completes the 13#11 chord voicing.

Playing the 13#11 Chord 

Let’s take a look at playing the 13#11 chord in context of a few simple chord progressions.

We can start off with a C Major 9 chord.  This has most of the same elements.  Then immediately progress to the C13#11 chord.

Let’s use the exact same voicing in F.  FM9 to the F13#11 chord.

Now move to G using the same voicing and progression concept.  GM9 to G13#11.

Instead of just playing it with the diatonic chords of C, play it with a non-diatonic tone such as G flat.