BbCDGFAb
Fig. 1 · Bb13 · moderate

guitar chord

B♭13

B♭1D3F5A♭♭7C9G13

Seven notes in theory and four or five in anyone’s hands: root, third, seventh and thirteenth carry it.

Written the other way round it is A♯13 — the same twelve keys on a piano, a different piece of notation.

on ukuleleon pianothe scale

Every fingering that fits a hand

Fig. 2

630064

moderate

Fig. 3

650064

moderate · no 9

Fig. 4

x10014

easy · no 5

Fig. 5

630034

moderate · no 5

Fig. 6

x10034

easy · no 5, 9

What is true of it

B♭13 is B♭, D, F, A♭, C and G — 1, 3, 5, b7, 9 and 13 counted from B♭.

On an instrument that cannot reach all 6, the 5, 9 and 1 go first, in that order.

The easiest of the 5 fingerings below is 630064: 4 fingers, held at the 3rd fret.

None of them uses an open string, so this chord moves up the neck unchanged — the same shape 1 fret higher is the chord a semitone above.

Where its notes are on the neck

EADGBE123456789101112513b7193193513b73513b719313b719351393513b71513b7193
Fig. 7 — first 12 frets

The brass dots are B♭, the root. Everything else is a chord tone with its degree printed in it.

With a different note underneath

first inversion

B♭13/D

x50064

second inversion

B♭13/F

110014

third inversion

B♭13/A♭

410011

An inversion is the same chord with a different note lowest. The name changes to a slash name because the bass is what a listener hears as the foundation.

B♭ in other shapes

B♭add9added ninthB♭9dominant ninthB♭maj9major ninthB♭majorB♭mminorB♭dimdiminished

C13C♯13D♭13D13D♯13E♭13E13F13all 374