Pianist

PLAYING BY EAR A Songwriters Way

In the sixth and final lesson of this series, John Geraghty wraps things up by taking a look at thirteenth chords, and demonstrates how to harmonise any piece of music with these chords

Introduction

In the last lesson (issue 113), you learned how to create eleventh chords, how to voice them with both hands and how to add them to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

In this last and final lesson, you will learn about:

• Thirteenths – seven-note chords using the C major scale

• Seven-note chord voicings for both hands

• How to harmonise Twinkle Twinkle Little Star with thirteenth chords

How to create a thirteenth chord – seven-note chord

Using the numbered system, the thirteenth note is, There are only eight notes in a scale, which means that a 2nd=9th, 4th=11th and a 6th=13th. A thirteenth chord can only be called so when the seventh is included.

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